US President Donald Trump has confirmed that plans for a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin have been shelved, citing Moscow’s refusal to accept a ceasefire along the current front line in Ukraine.
At White House on Tuesday, Trump said he didn’t want a “wasted meeting,” after earlier suggesting the two leaders would meet in Budapest within weeks to discuss ending the war.
A White House official confirmed there were “no plans for a Trump-Putin meeting in the immediate future,” following a flurry of diplomatic activity that revealed widening gaps between US and Russian proposals for peace.
The latest effort was part of a broader push to negotiate a ceasefire that would freeze the conflict in place an idea backed by Kyiv and European leaders but firmly rejected by the Kremlin.
Trump, who last met Putin during a rushed summit in Alaska in August that yielded no breakthrough, said Russia’s demands had become untenable.
“I said: cut and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people,” Trump told reporters, reiterating his support for a ceasefire deal that would halt combat where the front lines currently lie.
However, Russia has consistently rejected freezing the conflict, instead demanding the full withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region and legal recognition of Russian sovereignty over the area terms that are unacceptable to both Ukraine and its Western allies.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov doubled down on Tuesday, saying Moscow is interested only in “long-term, sustainable peace,” and not what he described as a temporary ceasefire that fails to address the “root causes” of the war.
A planned preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lavrov was also called off, though the two held what the White House described as a “productive” phone call instead.
European leaders, in a joint statement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, criticized Russia’s stance and said any path to peace must begin with freezing the front line. Zelensky described that position as the “start of diplomacy,” while accusing Moscow of avoiding meaningful negotiations.
Reports suggest that a recent phone call between Trump and Putin held just before Trump’s meeting with Zelensky was pivotal. US sources claim Trump had pushed Ukraine to consider ceding parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, collectively known as the Donbas, in a possible deal with Russia.
But Zelensky remains firm: Ukraine cannot give up the territory it still controls, warning it would only embolden further Russian aggression.
The Trump-Putin phone call reportedly came amid speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine a move that may have triggered Moscow’s sudden interest in diplomacy.
Zelensky later suggested the missile discussions were what truly got Moscow’s attention, calling the weapons talks a “strong investment in diplomacy,” even if he left Washington without a firm agreement on their delivery.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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