Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Shelved Days Following Budapest Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has announced.
Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a meeting was not "necessary".
The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Earlier Events
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.
Nevertheless, on this week the American president embraced a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the war on the current front line.
"Leave it as is where it stands," he remarked.
Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that encompass the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky said talks regarding the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before speculation that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.