Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested
There are "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.
Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration said the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".
The administration withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar indicating the president had pressured him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.
Yet, on Monday Trump endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the current front line.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the current line of contact.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.