US President Donald Trump has “no plans” to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in person, the White House said on Tuesday.
Mr Trump last week said he would meet Mr Putin “within two weeks” in Budapest for talks aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine, although a date had not been set. Hungarian President Viktor Orban was set to host the summit. The development follows a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov had a productive call. Therefore, an additional-in-person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary,” a White House official said. “And there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”
Later on Tuesday, he said he did not want to waste a meeting Mr Putin, until more developments become clear, without elaborating.
"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," he told reporters at the White House. "I don't want to have a waste of time till I see what happens."
The announcement comes after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House on Friday. He said the recent Gaza ceasefire has given momentum to hopes of a similar end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The US President said the meeting was “very interesting” and “cordial”, and that he had pressed the Ukrainian leader to make a deal with Mr Putin. A day earlier, Mr Trump held a call with Mr Putin which he called “very productive”.
Mr Trump last month said Ukraine could reclaim all of the territory seized by Russia. The shift came amid frustration with Mr Putin, who he invited to a summit in Alaska in August that ended without a deal.
After the phone call with Mr Putin and the subsequent meeting with Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump appeared to shift position again, calling on both sides to “stop where they are”.
