Trumps Meeting with Putin in Budapest Abandoned Amid Ukraine War Setbacks

U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, as attempts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine encountered yet another setback.

Just days ago, Trump indicated he would engage in talks with Putin within a fortnight, while simultaneously urging Ukraine to relinquish the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace, according to a senior official in Kyiv who spoke to AFP.

However, Trump has now changed course again in his efforts to address Russia’s ongoing invasion, which has lasted three and a half years, with reports suggesting that the Kremlin remains adamant about its demands following Trump’s recent phone call with Putin.

A White House official, speaking on background, stated, «There are no immediate plans for President Trump to meet President Putin.»

Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov canceled a planned meeting to prepare for the Budapest summit after a phone conversation on Monday.

«The secretary and foreign minister do not require further in-person discussions at this time,» the White House official remarked, noting that the call was still deemed «productive.»

On Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that there was no «specific» timeline for a future meeting between Trump and Putin, who previously engaged in discussions in Alaska in August, where they failed to achieve significant progress on Ukraine.

Despite claiming a good personal rapport with Putin, Trump has exhibited increasing frustration with the Russian leader. Following his meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky at the White House last week, Trump appeared to realign more closely with Moscow’s stance.

During their discussions, Trump reportedly urged Zelensky to consider conceding the Donbas region during «tense» negotiations, as revealed by a senior Ukrainian official.

This source characterized the talks with Trump as «challenging,» highlighting that diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict felt muddled and prolonged.

Last week, Trump advocated for both Moscow and Kyiv to cease hostilities at their current front lines and did not specifically mention Ukraine surrendering territory. However, when asked if Trump pressured Zelensky to withdraw from regions still under Ukrainian control—one of Putin’s central demands—a senior Ukrainian official confirmed, «Yes, that’s accurate.»

Zelensky exited the meeting without the desired outcomes, as Trump, speaking to Putin the day before, rejected Zelensky’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles and urged him toward a compromise.

Ukraine considers the Donbas region—a predominantly industrial zone across its eastern Luhansk and Donetsk areas—as an integral part of its nation and has repeatedly dismissed any notion of conceding it.

European leaders have also rejected the idea of Ukraine relinquishing territory, instead supporting a proposal to halt fighting along current battle lines.

In a joint declaration released on Tuesday, leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, and Britain’s Keir Starmer affirmed that Russia was not being «serious about peace.»

«We strongly align with President Trump’s stance that hostilities must cease immediately, and that the existing front lines should serve as the basis for negotiations,» the statement noted.

Zelensky, who is advocating for a role in any forthcoming summit after being excluded from Trump’s talks with Putin in Alaska, has dismissed any possibility of territorial compromises.

EU leaders are preparing to unite in support of Ukraine during a Brussels summit on Thursday, followed the next day by a «coalition of the willing» meeting in London to deliberate the next steps for assisting Kyiv.

Putin initiated a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, labeling it a «special military operation» aimed at demilitarizing the country and curbing NATO’s expansion.

Russia currently occupies approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory, much of which has been devastated by conflict, resulting in tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Russian drone strike on the town of Novgorod-Siverskyi in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region resulted in four fatalities, according to the state emergency service.