Preparations for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Shortly Following Budapest Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest soon to address the ongoing hostilities.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The administration withheld any more details on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting Trump had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday Trump endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the current front line.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he remarked.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.