Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Days After Budapest Negotiations Announced
There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.
Recently the US president said he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The White House declined to provide any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Previous Developments
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar indicating Trump had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.
However, on Monday the American president endorsed a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acceptance of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently preceded reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.
Zelensky 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 diplomacy", he remarked.