A proposed summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest has been scrapped just days after it was announced.
The development casts doubt over Trump’s latest attempt to secure a ceasefire to stop Russia’s fighting in Ukraine.
A White House official confirmed the summit is off saying that a “productive call” between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the meeting unnecessary.
The official added that the US and Russian presidents have no plans to meet in the immediate future.
Putin has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire and refused to entertain concessions as part of a peace deal with Ukraine. Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine cede territory in any agreement to end the war.
Following an Oct. 16 phone call with Putin, Trump announced plans for the pair to meet in Budapest to work on an agreement to end the war.
But the choice of Budapest for talks was controversial and Poland said it would not allow the Russian leader, under international sanctions, to fly over its airspace.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is one of the few leaders in the European Union to maintain close relations with Russia.
A meeting in August between Trump and Putin in Alaska failed to further peace negotiations as Trump had hoped. Trump said the meeting in Hungary would take place in the next two weeks.
The day after his call with Putin, Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House for a meeting where Trump did not commit to Zelensky’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles to help war efforts.
Reports said the closed-door meeting was fractious and that Trump cursed, threw maps and pushed Zelensky to accept some Russian demands to cede territory.
But Zelensky presented the meeting as successful because Trump publicly backed a ceasefire at the present lines matching Kiev’s longstanding position.
European leaders back Ukraine ceasefire proposal at current contact line
