Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has announced.
Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been delayed.
Background Context
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had urged him to cede extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.
However, on this week Trump endorsed a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the war on the present positions.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.
Russia has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
Zelensky said it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in international relations", he added.