Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Days Following Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the American leader had indicated further discussions would occur in the Hungarian capital

There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.

This past week Trump stated he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been delayed.

Previous Developments

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

Certain accounts claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting the president had pushed him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.

Yet, on Monday Trump endorsed a truce plan supported by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of extensive requirements that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding 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 "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded speculation that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.

Marisa Garcia
Marisa Garcia

A tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and business innovation.