Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Suggested
Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Recently Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the ongoing hostilities.
A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was not "necessary".
The administration declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Background Context
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming the president had urged him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.
Yet, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.
Moscow has frequently resisted against halting the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, implying that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of maximalist demands that involve the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded reports that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.