Trump-Putin Meeting Postponed as Diplomatic Channels Remain Open

A planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been postponed, though diplomatic channels between Washington and Moscow remain open following a productive telephone conversation between top foreign ministers, a US official announced Tuesday. The postponement contradicts Trump’s recent announcement of a Budapest summit within two weeks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone Monday in what was described as a “productive” exchange, according to the anonymous US administration official. However, American officials have determined that no additional in-person ministerial meetings are necessary at this time, and no immediate presidential summit is planned.
The Kremlin has echoed this cautious approach, with Russian officials stating Tuesday that there is no “precise timeframe” for organizing a meeting between Trump and Putin. The synchronized messaging from both capitals suggests that while diplomatic communication continues, concrete plans for a presidential summit remain distant.
The confusion surrounding potential summit timing began last Thursday after a telephone conversation between Trump and Putin that the American president initially portrayed as a significant breakthrough. Trump’s optimism led him to announce on social media that he would meet Putin in Budapest within two weeks, an announcement timed just before his scheduled discussion with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory.
Trump’s approach to Putin has been marked by sudden policy reversals, including the August decision to welcome Putin to Alaska for the Russian leader’s first visit to Western soil since initiating the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. While Trump has repeatedly claimed his personal rapport with Putin would allow him to end the war within a day of returning to the White House, he has recently expressed frustrations in dealing with the Russian president.