President Donald Trump has suffered yet another setback in his quest to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after a meeting between key aides fell apart, reports claim.
The president has been vying for bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, stating on October 16 that he hoped they would take place within “two weeks.”
After speaking with Putin on the phone Trump said it had been “agreed that there will be a meeting of our high level advisors, next week,” as a prelude.
“The United States’ initial meetings will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with various other people, to be designated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, would also be in attendance.
The pair is understood to have had a phone call on Monday to discuss “next steps.”
CNN now reports that sources familiar with the matter say the pre-meeting has been tabled. The network said the claims come from sources inside the White House.
One stated that the two men had different expectations for the meeting, although the exact cause of the possible breakdown remains unknown.
Russia never committed to timespans for the meeting between Trump and Putin.
The Daily Beast has contacted the administration to verify whether the meeting has been cancelled.
Lavrov has pushed back. He called the CNN report “unscrupulous,” adding, “I want to officially confirm: Russia has not changed its position compared to the understandings that were reached during the Alaska summit.”
He said he had told Rubio the same thing on the call, Reuters reports.
A State Department readout of that conversation claims Rubio “emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war, in line with President Trump’s vision.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin Spokesperson, Dimitri Peskov said, “Listen, we have an understanding of the presidents, but we cannot postpone what has not been finalized.”
Trump made brokering a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia a key promise before his inauguration.
Since then, commentators have observed Putin toying with him, leading him on only to launch more waves of brutality on Ukraine.
Among these incidents was the two-man Alaska summit in August, at which Trump rolled out the red carpet for the former KGB man.
Less than two weeks later, Russia rolled out a massive aerial attack on Kyiv using drones and missiles that claimed the lives of 18 people.
It comes against the backdrop of a turbulent relationship with Kyiv.
Following reports of another disastrous meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, pressure is rising.
The two men met in the White House on Friday, a day after Trump spoke with Putin on the phone. However, The Financial Times reports that the meeting descended into acrimony on multiple occasions.
The newspaper said the two had more than one “shouting match” with Trump, “cursing all the time.”
He told Zelensky to accept Russia’s demands, which would include surrendering all of the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine.
It also saw Trump refuse to give Ukraine Tomahawk missiles.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump made clear his stance on giving the territory to Russia while reiterating his desire for peace.
“It’s cut up right now,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “Leave it the way it is right now.”
According to The Guardian, he added, “They can negotiate something later on down the line,” adding he wanted them for now at least to “stop at the battle line—go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.”
If the pre-meeting has indeed fallen apart, it will come as a bitter blow to Trump.
In a post on Truth Social on October 16 about his hopes for it, Trump said, “President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end. President Zelensky and I will be meeting tomorrow, in the Oval Office, where we will discuss my conversation with President Putin, and much more.”
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