Plans for Trump-Putin Meeting Postponed Shortly After Budapest Talks Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.
This past week the US president indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The White House withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.
Background Context
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar indicating Trump had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
Yet, on this week Trump supported a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the present positions.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he stated.
Moscow has frequently resisted against pausing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "root causes" of the war required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He additionally stated the sole subject that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.