Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the US president had indicated further discussions would occur in the Hungarian capital

Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The administration declined to provide additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders indicating Trump had pushed him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the war on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he said.

Russia has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.

Brian Valdez
Brian Valdez

Wildlife biologist and sloth conservation advocate with over a decade of field research in Central and South American rainforests.