There are no plans for President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet “in the immediate future,” a White House official said on Tuesday — calling off a summit that was expected in Hungary in the coming weeks.
Trump announced on Thursday that he and Putin planned to meet again, and predicted it would occur “within two weeks or so.”
Therefore, an additional in person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” the White House official said.
Asked what had changed since announcing his plans to meet with Putin in Budapest, Trump said, “Well, I didn’t say anything.
Still, Zelenskyy described the White House meeting as positive and said he was waiting to see whether he would be invited to join the now-called off sitdown between Trump and Putin in Budapest.
A White House official announced on Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be meeting “in the immediate future,” canceling a summit that was scheduled to take place in Hungary in the upcoming weeks.
Trump said Thursday that he and Putin would meet again, and he said it would happen “in about two weeks.”. “,”.
He stated that senior advisers from both sides would first have talks.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the phone Monday. At this time, it is unlikely that the two will meet in person.
“The conversation between Foreign Minister Lavrov and Secretary Rubio was fruitful. As a result, the Secretary and Foreign Minister do not need to meet in person again, and President Trump is not scheduled to meet with President Putin anytime soon,” the White House official stated.
A possible face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin was played down by the Kremlin earlier Tuesday. According to the Kremlin, a summit date is never fixed.
A spokesman for Putin stated, “You can’t postpone what was not scheduled.”.
Trump responded, “I don’t want to have a wasted meeting,” when asked about the meeting Tuesday afternoon during a Diwali celebration at the Oval Office. To avoid wasting time, I’ll wait and see what occurs. “.”.
Trump responded, “Well, I didn’t say anything,” when asked what had changed since he announced his intention to meet with Putin in Budapest. I didn’t say it would. You never know what’s going to happen, you know. On the front line of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, however, a lot is going on. Additionally, we will receive notifications about our actions over the course of the next two days. “.”.
A NATO news release states that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will meet with Trump in Washington on Wednesday. An official from the White House attested to the meeting.
The two will talk about the conflict in Ukraine before the Coalition of the Willing meets in London on Friday, according to a NATO spokesman.
Following a diplomatic victory in the Middle East, Trump redoubled his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict as Moscow’s invasion continues three and a half years later.
He spoke with Putin on the phone last Thursday, and he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in person at the White House on Friday, but it seems that not much has changed since then.
Zelenskyy was in Washington to appeal for the coveted U.S. A. military equipment, including Tomahawk cruise missiles. While the Trump administration chose not to give Ukraine the long-range Tomahawks that would enable Kyiv to launch attacks farther inside Russia, Zelenskyy stated on Monday that the “issue is not off the table.”. “.”.
Zelenskyy, however, characterized the White House meeting as constructive and stated that he was awaiting an invitation to attend the now-canceled Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest.
In addition to demanding that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine end along its existing front lines, Trump refuted a Financial Times report that claimed he pressured Zelenskyy to cede the entire Donbas region to Russia.
Trump’s earlier remarks were tempered on Monday when he stated that he thought Ukraine could retake all of the territory that Russia currently controls.
“Well they could,” admitted Trump. “They have a chance to win. They might win, but I don’t think they will. I didn’t say they would prevail. They—anything can happen, I said. War is an odd thing, you know. Many negative things occur. Numerous positive things occur. “.”.
The announcement on Tuesday that a second Trump-Putin summit has been put on hold for the time being follows hours after Russia’s top diplomat indicated that the U. S. and Russia continue to hold divergent views on how to resolve the conflict with Ukraine.
“Washington is now stating that we must halt right away and refrain from talking about anything else. Let history make the final decision. You see, when Donald Trump took office, the American administration realized that if we simply stop, we will forget the underlying reasons for this conflict,” Lavrov stated.
This report was contributed to by Alexandra Hutzler, Michelle Stoddart, and Chris Boccia of ABC News.
