Preparations for Putin-Trump Summit Postponed Days Following Budapest Negotiations Proposed
There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday the US president indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the ongoing hostilities.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".
The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, 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 indicating Trump had pressured him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
However, on Monday the American president embraced a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the war on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is in its current state," he said.
Moscow has frequently resisted against pausing the present battle positions.
Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "fundamental issues" of the conflict required resolution, Lavrov said, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment 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.
Zelensky stated discussions about the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader recently came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.