Plans for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Days Following Budapest Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin last met in late summer in Alaska and the US president had said further discussions would take place in the Hungarian capital

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The administration did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

Yet, on this week the American president supported a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is the way it is," he stated.

Moscow has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the conflict required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday occurred before speculation that the US was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.

Hector Patterson
Hector Patterson

A seasoned gaming technology analyst with over a decade of experience in slot machine design and industry trends, based in Berlin.