US President Donald Trump has stated he does not want a "wasted meeting" after plans to hold face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the ongoing war in Ukraine were put on hold.
In remarks at the White House on Tuesday, Trump emphasized that a key obstacle was Moscow's refusal to halt fighting along the current front line. Media reports indicated that the US president clarified the situation, noting that significant differences remained between the US and Russia's positions.
The BBC says that earlier, a White House official had confirmed there were "no plans" for a Trump-Putin meeting "in the immediate future," despite Trump’s statement the previous Thursday that the two leaders would meet in Budapest within two weeks.
The divergence between US and Russian peace proposals became more apparent this week, casting doubt on the possibility of a summit.
Trump and Putin last met in August in Alaska during an impromptu summit, which ended without concrete results. The White House's decision to postpone further talks may be seen as an effort to avoid repeating that scenario.
"I guess the Russians wanted too much, and it became evident to the Americans that there would be no deal for Trump in Budapest," a senior European diplomat told Reuters.
On Monday, Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders, which called for freezing the conflict at the current front line, the BBC says. "Let it stay as it is," he said. "I said: cut and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people."
However, Russia has consistently rejected the idea of freezing the current front line. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Moscow's position had not changed, emphasizing that Russia demanded the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the contested eastern regions.
European leaders, in a joint statement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, insisted that any discussions to end the war should start with freezing the front line and accused Russia of not being "serious" about peace.
The New York Times reports that some foreign policy experts still believe Trump holds leverage in talks with Moscow, particularly if he uses the threat of providing Ukraine with long-range missiles, such as Tomahawks.
This is reportedly not the first time Trump has announced a summit before finalizing the details. In the summer, Trump invited Putin to a meeting in Alaska, reversing the usual diplomatic process. The New York Times further noted that rather than having senior officials iron out the details before a formal summit announcement, Trump hosted an elaborate meeting, only to leave without a deal.
This time, the number of disputes appeared to be too significant, and it remains unclear if any commitment to the meeting was ever made.
