Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced
There are "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.
Recently Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to address the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The administration withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting Trump had pressured him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
However, on Monday the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the current line of contact.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in international relations", he commented.