Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.
Recently the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".
The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating the president had pressured him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.
However, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the war on the current front line.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that halting hostilities would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded rumors that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.