Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Shortly Following Budapest Talks Proposed
There are "no plans" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.
Recently Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".
The White House withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Background Context
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had pressured him to cede large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Diplomatic Positions
The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently came ahead of rumors that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he added.