Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Announced
There are "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.
This past week the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was not "needed".
The administration withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting Trump had pushed him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the war on the current front line.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of extensive requirements that encompass the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.
Zelensky commented talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently occurred before rumors that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he commented.