Arrangements for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Shortly After Budapest Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.
Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".
The administration withheld further information on why the talks had been postponed.
Earlier Events
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders indicating the president had urged him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.
Yet, on this week the American president endorsed a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to pause the conflict on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines the way it is," he remarked.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "root causes" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of extensive requirements that involve the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky said talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump recently occurred before speculation that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.