Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump last met in late summer in Alaska and the US president had indicated additional discussions would occur in the Hungarian capital

There are "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced.

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House did not share any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming the president had pushed him to cede large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on Monday the American president embraced a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the war on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the existing front lines.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.

Wendy Edwards
Wendy Edwards

A gaming journalist with over a decade of experience covering online casinos and slot machines.

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