The meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, planned in Budapest, was suspended after the talks between Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov.
The second Trump-Putin meeting was suspended. PHOTO: Shutterstock
A few hours after this, the summit announced in Budapest was cancelled. The White House confirmed on Tuesday, October 21, that there is no concrete plan for a meeting in the near future after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday. US officials described the discussion as “productive”, but concluded that a direct meeting between the two leaders was no longer necessary, notes Politico.
For his part, in a press conference in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov declared that Russia's position towards the conflict in Ukraine remains unchanged since the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, held two months ago.
“I think US officials have come to the conclusion that Russia's position has remained largely unchanged over time and is within the bounds of its initial maximalist demands,” said Sergey Lavrov, continuing: “Russia has not changed its positions on the prolonged Putin-Trump deals and negotiations in Alaska.”
The Kremlin claims that before any truce, the “root causes” of the war in Ukraine must be eliminated, interpreting Ukraine's proximity to Europe and its desire to join NATO as an existential threat. According to Moscow, this would involve changing the government in Ukraine.
We remind you that this is not the first time that Vladimir Putin questions the legitimacy of President Volodymyr Zelensky and demands the organization of new elections in Ukraine, an end to the so-called “persecution of Russian speakers” and guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO.
“We remain fully committed to this formula and we confirmed it yesterday in the discussion with Marco Rubio,” Sergey Lavrov also said.
In addition, the Russian minister raised the issue of Putin's transport to Budapest, citing Poland's recent threat to implement the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court if the Russian leader's plane flew over Polish airspace.
Russia is not willing to make concessions
After the meeting in Alaska, Donald Trump left without any concessions from Russia, and his claims that Vladimir Putin was open to peace were contradicted by Moscow's refusal to negotiate directly with Ukraine and continued attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Last week, Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, after which he announced that they had made “significant progress” and that they were planning another meeting in Budapest. Later, he welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House, but refused his request to deliver Tomahawk missiles, pressuring Ukraine to cede more territory for a “peace” convenient to the Kremlin regime.
In this context, on Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov emphasized that Russia rejects “signals coming from Washington” regarding the end of the war on the current lines.
“It's not the place or the timing that matters, but how we move forward on those issues. The goals we reached broad agreement on in Anchorage remain a priority.” he stated.
