Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Postponed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the American leader had indicated further discussions would occur in the Hungarian capital

There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the Ukraine conflict.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The administration did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting the president had pushed him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.

However, on Monday Trump supported a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he said.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the current line of contact.

Moscow was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday occurred before speculation that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he remarked.

Neil James
Neil James

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on society.