Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has announced.
Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".
The administration withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar indicating Trump had urged him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
However, on this week the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the conflict on the current front line.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he remarked.
Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.
Negotiating Stances
The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.