Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.
Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.
A planning session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".
The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting the president had pushed him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.
Yet, on this week Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the current front line.
"Leave it as is where it stands," he said.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the current line of contact.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, implying that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "root causes" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of extensive requirements that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.
He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he commented.