Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Postponed Days Following Budapest Talks Proposed

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump last met in late summer in Alaska and the American leader had said further discussions would occur in the Hungarian capital

Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.

Last Thursday the US president indicated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar claiming the president had urged him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the conflict on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.

Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky said conversations concerning the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently preceded speculation that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.

Mary Wade
Mary Wade

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