US President Donald Trump has said he did not want to have a “wasted meeting” with Russian President Vladimir Putin after plans for direct talks on the Ukraine war were suspended.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump explained that discussions had stalled because of Moscow’s refusal to stop fighting along the existing front line.
A senior White House official earlier confirmed there were “no plans” for a Trump-Putin meeting “in the immediate future.” This followed Trump’s statement last week that a summit would be held in Budapest within two weeks.
The decision to delay the talks highlights growing differences between US and Russian peace proposals — and reflects Washington’s effort to avoid another unproductive encounter like the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August, which produced no tangible results.
“I guess the Russians wanted too much,” a senior European diplomat told Reuters. “It became evident there would be no deal for Trump in Budapest.”
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was also cancelled, though the White House described their recent phone conversation as “productive.”
On Monday, Trump endorsed a European-backed proposal to freeze the conflict along the current front line.
“Let it be cut the way it is,” he said. “Stop fighting, stop killing people.”
However, Moscow has rejected any plan that would formalize the current line of contact. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russia’s position “doesn’t change,” and Lavrov said Russia sought “long-term, sustainable peace” rather than a temporary ceasefire.
Lavrov again emphasized that the “root causes” of the war — including Russia’s demand for recognition of sovereignty over Donbas and the demilitarization of Ukraine — must be addressed, conditions Kyiv and its allies deem unacceptable.
Earlier on Tuesday, European leaders joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a joint statement supporting a frontline freeze as the first step toward peace. They accused Moscow of not being “serious” about negotiations.
Zelensky described discussions on the front line as the “beginning of diplomacy,” insisting that Russia was trying to avoid meaningful talks. He added that Moscow only takes diplomacy seriously when faced with the threat of long-range Western weapons.
Reports indicate Trump and Putin last spoke by phone before Trump’s meeting with Zelensky at the White House. Some accounts suggested the conversation between Trump and Zelensky grew heated, with Trump urging Ukraine to give up parts of Donetsk and Luhansk — an idea Kyiv flatly rejects.
Zelensky has maintained that surrendering territory would only invite further Russian aggression.
Putin’s unplanned call with Trump came amid reports that Washington might supply Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep inside Russia. Zelensky later said the possibility of receiving those missiles was what pushed Moscow to re-engage diplomatically, calling it a “strong investment in diplomacy” — even though he left Washington without a deal.
