Arrangements for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Talks Announced
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.
Recently Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming Trump had pressured him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on this week Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the war on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated.
Russia has frequently resisted against halting the present battle positions.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he commented.