Arrangements for Putin-Trump Talks Delayed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.
Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was not "required".
The administration declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar claiming Trump had pressured him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
However, on this week the American president supported a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions.
Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently occurred before reports that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.