Plans for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.
This past week Trump said he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The White House did not share additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.
Earlier Events
Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders indicating the president had pressured him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on this week Trump embraced a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he remarked.
Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president commented discussions about the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.
He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he added.