Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Days After Budapest Talks Suggested

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin previously convened in late summer in Alaska and the American leader had indicated further discussions would take place in Budapest

There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

Recently the US president indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest soon to examine the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been delayed.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources claiming Trump had urged him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on this week the American president supported a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated.

Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, implying that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president said discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.

He additionally stated the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of reports that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.

Tanya Webster
Tanya Webster

Mira Thorne is a seasoned journalist and political analyst with over a decade of experience covering European affairs and digital trends.