Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
There are "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.
Recently the US president stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the Ukraine conflict.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".
The White House declined to provide further information on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders indicating the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the war on the current front line.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.
Russia has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday preceded rumors that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.