The United States has canceled the planned summit in Budapest between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia's firm stance on its key demands regarding Ukraine, the “Financial Times“ (FT) reported today, BTA reported.
The decision was made after a tense conversation between the two countries' top diplomats, the newspaper noted, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Reuters notes that it cannot at the moment confirm the information published by the "Financial Times". The White House has not yet responded to a request for comment on the matter, and representatives of the Russian government have also declined to comment.
Plans for a summit in Budapest This month's talks between Trump and Putin were postponed after Moscow refused to back down on its demands, including that Ukraine cede more territory as a condition for a ceasefire.
Trump backed Ukraine's call for an immediate ceasefire along the current front lines.
Days after Trump and Putin agreed to meet in the Hungarian capital to discuss how to end Russia's war in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a memorandum to Washington outlining the same demands to address the "root causes" of what Putin calls the war. The demands include territorial concessions, a major reduction in Ukraine's armed forces and guarantees that the country would never join NATO, the Financial Times reported.
A subsequent meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed, after which the US called off the talks. The FT report also said Rubio later told Trump that Moscow was showing no desire for negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this month that while Ukraine was ready for peace talks, it would not withdraw its troops from the additional territories, as Moscow had demanded.