During a briefing in the Oval Office, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he canceled the previously planned meeting with Putin. "I just felt it was wrong," the head of the White House explained his decision, writes DW.
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he canceled the planned meeting in Budapest with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We canceled the meeting with President Putin. I just felt it was wrong. I felt we wouldn't get to the place we were supposed to get to. So I canceled it. But we will do it in the future," Trump told reporters during a briefing at the White House late Thursday night, October 23, European time.
When asked if he still believes that the Russian president wants to end the war he started against Ukraine, Trump answered affirmatively, as reported by the American channel CNN. "I think they want peace, I think they both (the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. - Ed.) want peace," Trump explained, adding that "it's time" to end this war, which "if he were president, would never have started."
Meanwhile, Trump acknowledged his disappointment with the slow pace of negotiations with Russia regarding the cessation of the war. "Well, to be honest, the only thing I can say is: every time I talk to Vladimir (Putin. - Ed.), I have good conversations, but then they lead nowhere," Donald Trump reiterated.
Just a Day Ago, Trump Did Not Rule Out Meeting with Putin
The day before, in the same Oval Office, the U.S. president stated that a decision on a meeting with the Kremlin leader would be made within the next two days. "I don’t want a useless meeting," Trump replied at that time to a reporter's question. "I don’t want to waste time, so we’ll see what happens."
On October 16, after a phone conversation with Putin, Trump announced that negotiations between the delegations of Russia and the U.S. would take place the following week (October 20-26), led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The U.S. president announced that after that, he would personally meet with the Russian president in the capital of Hungary. At the same time, he paused the decision on providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, and on the night of October 23, stated that training for their use allegedly requires six months to a year, but the U.S. does not plan such training.
At the same time, the U.S. Treasury imposed additional sanctions against the two largest Russian oil companies - Rosneft and Lukoil - and their subsidiaries due to "Russia's lack of serious interest in the peace process" to end the war in Ukraine.
Demands for the Surrender of Donbass to Russia
On October 17, a meeting took place at the White House between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. A few days after it, the AFP agency reported, citing a senior Ukrainian official, that Trump pressured Zelensky to abandon all of Donbass. The agency's source characterized the recent negotiations between the heads of state in the White House as "tense." Later, Trump stated that he insists on freezing the conflict along the current front line.
In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported to Russian journalists on October 21 that Russia's position on Ukraine had not changed after the negotiations between Putin and Trump in August. The meeting between Lavrov and Rubio was also canceled, the White House representative told reporters.
Earlier, the Financial Times, citing eight Western and Ukrainian sources, reported that during a meeting in Alaska, Putin rejected the U.S. proposal to ease sanctions against Moscow in exchange for a ceasefire in the war he started, demanding the transfer of eastern territories of Ukraine that had not yet been captured by Russia.
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