Preparations for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Days After Budapest Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.
Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to examine the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The White House withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Background Context
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting Trump had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on Monday the American president endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the war on the current front line.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.
Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.
Diplomatic Positions
The "fundamental issues" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a set of extensive requirements that include the recognition 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 Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.