Trump-Putin Summit Plans Hit the Brakes: No Immediate Meeting on Horizon

The anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been put on hold, according to a US administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday. This development comes just days after Trump publicly announced that the two world leaders would convene within two weeks in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, creating confusion about the administration’s diplomatic timeline.
The change in plans follows a telephone conversation on Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The discussion was intended to lay groundwork for the proposed Budapest summit, but officials have now determined that no additional in-person meeting between the top diplomats is necessary at this time.
The US official characterized the Rubio-Lavrov phone call as “productive,” though specific details of their discussion were not disclosed. Meanwhile, the Kremlin has also backed away from confirming any immediate summit plans, stating Tuesday that there is no “precise timeframe” established for a meeting between the two presidents.
The diplomatic uncertainty began last Thursday when Putin and Trump spoke by telephone, a conversation that Trump initially portrayed as significant progress. The American president quickly took to social media to announce the Budapest meeting, scheduled for within two weeks. This announcement came just before Trump was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss providing Ukraine with US-made Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory.
Trump’s shifting approach toward Putin has been marked by dramatic policy swings, including welcoming the Russian leader to Alaska in August for his first visit to Western soil since launching the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite previously claiming he could end the war within a day of returning to the White House due to his relationship with Putin, Trump has recently acknowledged experiencing frustrations with the Russian president.