Arrangements for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested
There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced.
This past week Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The administration withheld any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting the president had urged him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on this week the American president endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.
Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.
Diplomatic Positions
The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that include the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.
Zelensky commented discussions about the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently occurred before reports that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.