Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Days After Budapest Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.
This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The White House declined to provide further information on why the talks had been delayed.
Earlier Events
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
However, on Monday the American president endorsed a truce plan backed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.