Plans for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".
The administration declined to provide further information on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar indicating Trump had pushed him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.
However, on this week the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.
"Leave it as is where it stands," he said.
Russia has consistently objected against pausing the current line of contact.
Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that involve the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded speculation that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.