US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a planned second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin may not take place soon, after the proposed Budapest summit was put on hold amid disagreements over a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“I don’t want to have a wasted meeting. I don’t want to have a waste of time. So I’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters during a Diwali event at the White House.
Trump reiterated his call for an immediate halt to fighting in Ukraine, suggesting both sides withdraw to their current positions. “I said, ‘Go to the line. Go to the line of battle, the battlefield lines, and you pull back, and you go home and everybody takes some time off, because you got two countries that are killing each other, two countries are losing five to 7,000 soldiers a week,’” he said.
A White House official earlier confirmed that the summit had been postponed following what they described as a “productive” phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Trump and Putin had previously agreed to meet in Budapest within two weeks after their October 16 phone call. However, those arrangements were canceled, the official said. The reason for the delay was not immediately disclosed, though Russian officials have resisted Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire that would freeze existing frontlines in Ukraine.
Lavrov criticized Washington’s stance, saying it conflicted with the commitments made by both leaders during their August summit in Alaska. He also suggested that European governments should encourage the United States to consider a temporary truce instead of a permanent ceasefire.
Trump added that he had “not made a determination,” without specifying whether he was referring to the summit, the ceasefire, or ongoing arms discussions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has reportedly asked Washington for Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of striking targets inside Russia. In parallel, the US Senate is preparing a sanctions package against Moscow, which Majority Leader John Thune said awaits White House approval. The bill currently has the backing of 85 senators.
Trump is scheduled to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday.