Putin-Trump meeting in Hungary postponed, timing undecided

Washington, Oct 22 (IANS) A planned meeting in Hungary between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been postponed, with no new date set, according to US and Russian officials.

Preparations for a possible meeting in Budapest, Hungary, were put on hold following what was described as a "constructive but inconclusive" phone conversation between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week, the officials said.

Following a phone conversation with Putin last week, Trump said he was ready to meet the Russian leader soon to seek a breakthrough in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, the US president told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that he did not want to have "a wasted meeting", Xinhua News Agency reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the timing of a possible summit remains undecided, stressing that "serious preparation" would be required before any meeting could take place.

Despite the delay, Russia's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, said late Tuesday on his X account that "preparations continue" for a future summit, adding that the meeting had not been cancelled.

The summit delay followed Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday, where he ruled out a trilateral summit with Russia and Ukraine, citing deep tensions between Moscow and Kyiv.

Trump and Putin met in the US state of Alaska in August, but no deal was reached, and ceasefire negotiations remain deadlocked.

On October 16, Trump started a reboot of the attempts to end the “inglorious” Russia-Ukraine war and announced that he would meet with Putin.

Trump talked with Putin and said on Truth Social, “I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation.”

He said he will discuss with Zelensky his talk with Putin.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the talk.

--IANS

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