Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Days After Budapest Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.
Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".
The White House withheld any more details on why the talks had been delayed.
Earlier Events
Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming Trump had pressured him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
However, on this week Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he said.
Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president commented discussions about the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the US was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he added.