Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Days After Budapest Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".
The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar suggesting Trump had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he said.
Moscow has frequently resisted against halting the present battle positions.
The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president commented discussions about the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.
He additionally stated the sole subject that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Weapons Discussions
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday preceded rumors that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he commented.