Preparations for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.
Last Thursday the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a meeting was not "needed".
The White House withheld any more details on why the talks had been postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting Trump had urged him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
However, on Monday the American president supported a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the war on the current front line.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky stated conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.