A planned summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Hungary has been postponed after Moscow rejected an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Citing a senior White House official, Reuters reported that “there are no plans for a meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin in the near future.” This comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a “productive” phone conversation but decided against a face-to-face meeting.
Last week, Trump said he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to end the war in Ukraine. But Putin is reluctant to discuss concessions. Moscow has long demanded that Ukraine agree to hand over additional territory before a ceasefire can be established.
Speaking to reporters about the prospects for the summit, Trump said he did not want to hold a “pointless meeting” but noted that there could be new developments in the next two days, and “we will keep you informed.”
Putin’s spokesman, Kirill Dmitriev, posted on social media that “preparations are ongoing” for the summit.
According to Reuters, however, Russia sent the United States an unofficial document, a “non-paper,” over the weekend that reiterated its long-standing terms for a peace agreement. In the document, Russia reiterated its demand for complete control of the disputed eastern Donbas region, which one official said effectively rejected Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire with a freeze on the current front lines.
