Plans for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Days After Budapest Talks Announced
There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.
Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The administration withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold.
Background Context
The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming the president had pushed him to cede large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.
However, on this week Trump endorsed a truce plan supported by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the war on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is where it stands," he remarked.
Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky commented talks regarding the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply 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 distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he remarked.