Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested
There are "no plans" for US President President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.
Recently the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest within two weeks to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".
The administration declined to provide further information on why the talks had been postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources indicating Trump had pushed him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on this week Trump embraced a truce plan backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.
Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a series of comprehensive conditions that include 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 EU supporters.
Zelensky stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently occurred before rumors that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.