In what is being described as the “latest abrupt shift” by President Donald Trump, a widely publicized summit with Vladimir Putin is no longer happening in the “immediate future.” Both US and Russian officials confirmed the change in plans on Tuesday.
The reversal comes just days after Trump, following a phone call with Putin last Thursday, enthusiastically posted on social media. He claimed he would meet the Russian leader in Budapest within a fortnight.
That announcement triggered diplomatic action, leading to a call Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. An administration official described the call as “productive.”
However, the same official, speaking anonymously, definitively stated that no summit is imminent. “There are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” the official said, adding an in-person meeting between Rubio and Lavrov was now “not necessary.”
The Kremlin concurred, stating Tuesday there is “no precise timeframe” for a meeting. This backtrack occurs despite Trump’s previous boasts of ending the war via “personal chemistry” with Putin, a relationship that has also seen frustrations, particularly after Putin’s August visit to Alaska.