Arrangements for Putin-Trump Summit Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.
Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a meeting was not "needed".
The White House withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar indicating Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has frequently resisted against pausing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "root causes" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he added.