A White House official has stated that there are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, "in the near future."
Last week, Trump announced that he would meet with Putin in Budapest in two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine. A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was scheduled for this week, but the White House said the two officials had a “productive call” and “the meeting was no longer necessary.”
The White House did not provide further details on the reasons for the postponement. Trump had spoken by phone with Putin about the Budapest summit a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington. According to some reports, Trump's meeting with Zelensky had turned into a "loud brawl," with Trump reportedly pressuring his Ukrainian counterpart to cede large swathes of territory in the east of the country as part of a deal with Russia.
However, on Monday, Trump voiced support for a ceasefire proposal, endorsed by Kiev and European leaders, that envisions a freeze on the current front line. “Let it be divided as it is,” he said.
Moscow, on the other hand, has opposed the idea of freezing the line of contact. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia was interested in a “long-term and stable peace,” stressing that freezing the front would only constitute a temporary ceasefire.
Lavrov added that the “root cause of the conflict” needed to be addressed — a phrase the Kremlin uses to imply Moscow’s maximum demands, including recognition of full Russian sovereignty over Donbass and the demilitarization of Ukraine, conditions that Kiev and its European allies consider unacceptable.
For his part, Zelensky said that the discussions on the front line were “the beginning of diplomacy,” but added that Russia is “doing everything to avoid diplomacy.” He stressed that the only issue that could make Moscow “pay attention” is the supply of long-range weapons.
Putin's unannounced phone call with Trump last week came amid speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, capable of striking deep into Russian territory. Zelensky said it was the Tomahawk missiles that had forced Russia into the discussions, calling it "a solid investment in diplomacy."
