Plans for Trump-Putin Meeting Postponed Shortly Following Budapest Talks Proposed
Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.
Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital soon to examine the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".
The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting Trump had urged him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a truce plan supported by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he stated.
Moscow has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.
Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president said discussions about the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently preceded reports that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.