Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Days Following Budapest Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.
Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital soon to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The White House declined to provide additional specifics on why the talks had been postponed.
Background Context
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting the president had pressured him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
However, on this week the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the conflict on the current front line.
"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, implying that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded rumors that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.