Plans for Putin-Trump Talks Shelved Days After Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.
This past week the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to address the ongoing hostilities.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was not "necessary".
The administration withheld further information on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating the president had urged him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday the American president endorsed a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he said.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky stated talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently came ahead of rumors that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike deep into Russia.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he commented.