There are no plans for US President Donald Trump to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the immediate future, a White House official said on Tuesday, October 21, a pivot after Trump suggested last week that he would meet his Russian counterpart soon in Budapest to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump said last week that he planned on meeting with Putin after senior American and Russian officials spoke.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, then had a “productive call,” the official said.
Trump’s initial plan, stated just last week, was to speak with the Russian leader in about “two weeks or so” to discuss a path toward ending the war in Ukraine.
He even floated Budapest as the potential location for the meeting. This suggestion was a highly anticipated development, as a direct meeting between the two leaders would be seen as a major step toward de-escalation or a potential peace process.
It is unclear whether Trump and Putin are still discussing meeting in Budapest in the more distant future. Trump was unclear about a date for the meeting but indicated it would happen soon after senior officials from each country spoke.
The news that Trump will not meet with Putin in the immediate future, despite earlier suggestions, is a significant shift in diplomatic signals regarding the war in Ukraine.