White House confirms no Trump-Putin meeting planned in immediate future

According to Bloomberg, citing a White House official, the conversation between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday was “productive, and a meeting between the two officials also isn’t necessary.”

Last week, following a phone call with Putin, Trump had stated that he would meet with the Russian leader “within two weeks or so” and that Rubio and Lavrov would meet “pretty soon.”

At the same time, Trump acknowledged that the prospect of a U.S.-Russia summit in Budapest could be part of Putin’s attempt to buy time, especially after the August summit failed to make any progress in ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

However, Trump dismissed concerns that Putin could manipulate him and insisted that the Kremlin wants to end the conflict, which has now lasted four years.

In recent days, Trump has stepped up his calls for a ceasefire, urging both sides to stop fighting “at the battle line.”

Earlier, the Institute for the Study of War reported that the Kremlin shows no signs that Russian leadership was willing to accept anything less than Ukraine’s capitulation.

It was previously reported that the expected meeting this week between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had been postponed. Informed sources stated that Rubio and Lavrov had differing expectations regarding a potential end to the war in Ukraine. Following their Monday phone conversation, officials concluded that Russia’s position had not changed and remains maximalist.