Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin last met in August in the northern US state and the American leader had said further discussions would take place in Budapest

There are "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.

Recently Trump stated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the present positions.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.

Russia has consistently objected against pausing the current line of contact.

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

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky stated discussions about the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He also said the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.

Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.

Cody Strickland
Cody Strickland

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos, specializing in slot machine mechanics and player strategies.