Plans for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Suggested
There are "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".
The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar indicating Trump had pushed him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on this week the American president supported a truce plan backed by Kyiv and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the existing battle lines.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, implying that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of extensive requirements that encompass the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.