Budapest (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Wednesday that preparations for the meeting in Budapest between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are still underway, following the postponement of the summit the previous day.
“(Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter) Szijjarto is in Washington. Preparations for the peace summit are continuing. The date is still uncertain. When the time comes, we will hold it,”
Orban wrote on Facebook.
Last week, Trump announced that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to attempt to resolve the war in Ukraine. However, Putin has shown reluctance to make concessions. Moscow has consistently insisted that Ukraine must surrender more territory prior to any ceasefire.
Why was the Trump-Putin peace summit postponed in Budapest?
The planned meeting was halted because Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast doubt over the negotiations. White House officials stated on Tuesday that there are currently “no plans” for the two leaders to meet in the near future.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly did not achieve significant progress during an initial call before their scheduled talks in Budapest.
On Tuesday, Trump mentioned he wanted to avoid a “wasted meeting” but indicated there might be further developments, adding that “we’ll be notifying you over the next two” days”.
How did Moscow respond to Trump’s ceasefire proposal?
Lavrov later confirmed that Putin rejected Trump’s ceasefire proposal and is still focused on pursuing the maximalist objectives of his invasion.
“A ceasefire now would mean only one thing: a large part of Ukraine would remain under Nazi rule,”
Russia’s top diplomat said.
What are Russia’s stated conditions for a peace agreement?
Russia reaffirmed its longstanding conditions for a peace agreement in a private ‘non-paper’ memo sent to the U.S. last weekend, according to two U.S. officials and two other sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported.
The communique reaffirmed Russia’s insistence on full control over the long-contested eastern Donbas region, according to an official, effectively rejecting Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire that would freeze the frontlines at their current positions locations. Russia governs the entire Luhansk province and approximately 75% of the neighbouring Donetsk, together forming the Donbas region.
