Preparations for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Announced

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin previously convened in August in Alaska and the American leader had said additional discussions would occur in Budapest

Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

Recently Trump stated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest soon to examine the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had pressured him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.

However, on this week the American president endorsed a truce plan backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the present positions.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he stated.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently occurred before speculation that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he commented.

Wanda Poole MD
Wanda Poole MD

Environmental scientist and writer passionate about green living and sustainable practices.