Preparations for Putin-Trump Summit Postponed Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Proposed

Currently exist "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.

This past week the US president indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The White House declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming the president had pushed him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Yet, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.

Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.