Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Suggested

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump last met in August in Alaska and the American leader had indicated further discussions would occur in the Hungarian capital

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has declared.

Recently Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was not "required".

The White House declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar claiming Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on this week Trump supported a truce plan backed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the present positions.

"Let it be cut the way it is," he stated.

Russia has consistently objected against pausing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of maximalist demands that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he remarked.

Ricky Daniels
Ricky Daniels

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