Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Shelved Days Following Budapest Talks Announced
There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.
This past week Trump indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The White House declined to provide further information on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting the president had urged him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on Monday the American president endorsed a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the war on the present positions.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he said.
Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a series of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded rumors that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he commented.