Preparations for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
There are "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced.
Last Thursday the US president indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was not "necessary".
The administration withheld any more details on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating Trump had pressured him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.
Nevertheless, on this week the American president supported a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the war on the current front line.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.
Moscow has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause.
Diplomatic Positions
The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded speculation that the US was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he commented.