Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
There are "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".
The White House withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders claiming the president had pushed him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.
Yet, on this week Trump supported a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the present positions.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.
Moscow has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact.
Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in international relations", he added.