🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "needed".

The White House withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders claiming Trump had pushed him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on this week the American president supported a truce plan supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the war on the existing battle lines.

"Let it be cut the way it is," he remarked.

Moscow has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader recently occurred before reports that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he added.