Arrangements for Putin-Trump Summit Delayed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin last met in late summer in Alaska and the US president had said further discussions would take place in Budapest

Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.

This past week the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

Yet, on this week the American president embraced a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

Russia has consistently objected against pausing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently occurred before speculation that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.

Kristen Bailey
Kristen Bailey

Cybersecurity specialist and AI researcher with over a decade of experience in tech innovation and digital security solutions.