Preparations for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in August in Alaska and the American leader had stated additional discussions would take place in the Hungarian capital

There are "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".

The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating Trump had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

Yet, on Monday Trump supported a truce plan supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the war on the existing battle lines.

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

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky stated conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump recently came ahead of speculation that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.

Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith

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