Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.
Recently Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".
The White House withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating the president had pressured him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
However, on Monday Trump supported a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he said.
Russia has consistently objected against pausing the existing front lines.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
Weapons Discussions
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently preceded reports that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "significant input" in international relations", he added.