🔗 Share this article Arrangements for Putin-Trump Summit Delayed Days Following Budapest Talks Proposed Trump and Putin previously convened in late summer in Alaska and the American leader had indicated further talks would take place in the Hungarian capital Currently exist "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated. This past week the US president indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities. A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a meeting was no longer "necessary". The White House declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed. Background Context Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House. Some reports claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia. Nevertheless, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the war on the existing battle lines. "Freeze the lines the way it is," he said. Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the current line of contact. The Russian government was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Lavrov stated on this week, implying that pausing conflict would only amount to a temporary ceasefire. Diplomatic Positions The "fundamental issues" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners. The Ukrainian president said discussions about the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue. He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine. Strategic Factors The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently preceded rumors that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia. The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in international relations", he commented.