President Donald Trump continued playing hard to get with Russian President Vladimir Putin after cancelling a prospective meeting in Hungary to discuss ending the war on Ukraine.
“I’m not gonna be wasting my time,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday, during a visit to Malaysia for a separate diplomatic summit, in response to questions about whether he’d consider rescheduling the face-to-face with his Russian counterpart.
“I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing,” he said. “I thought this would have gone long before peace in the Middle East.”
The MAGA leader promised on last year’s campaign trail he’d secure a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of assuming office. It’s now 279 days since “day one” of his second presidency, with no end to the conflict in sight.
His relationship with both sides has proven mercurial in the months since. In February, Trump hosted Volodymyr Zelensky at the Oval Office for what was widely regarded as a diplomatic disaster, with the Ukrainian president berated by Trump and Vice President JD Vance for his perceived lack of gratitude for U.S. support since the launch of the invasion.
The meeting left both Kyiv and its European allies alarmed by what appeared to be Trump’s desire for a quick resolution, even at the expense of Ukraine’s future security, and confused as to what level of support they might continue to expect from the White House going forward.
While the president had touted his historically cozy relationship with Putin as a basis for facilitating ceasefire negotiations, his efforts in that respect later ran into a brick wall at a June summit with the Russian leader in Alaska.
Putin reportedly refused to budge on key Russian demands, including recognition of occupied territories and a pledge of future neutrality from Ukraine, with officials describing the later stages of the meeting as “a shouting match masquerading as diplomacy.”
Having since tightened sanctions on the Russian energy and financial sectors, this week’s cancellation of a planned Budapest summit has been widely received as an abject failure on part of Washington’s latest efforts at mediation. The president now appears to be between distrust in Kyiv and defiance from Moscow.
Trump has blamed the fall-through on “bad timing,” even as top White House officials privately concede the tenor of arrangements for the meet meant talks were over even before they failed to begin.
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