The planned summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest has been canceled due to Russia's tough demands regarding Ukraine. The decision was made after a tense conversation between diplomats.
The Budapest summit between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin head Vladimir Putin has been canceled due to a Moscow memorandum, reports the Financial Times, writes UNN.
The US canceled a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest after a Russian memorandum to Washington containing a firm stance on tough demands regarding Ukraine, followed by a tense phone call between the two countries' top diplomats.
sources familiar with the matter told FT.
Details
Earlier this month, Trump and Putin agreed by phone to meet in the Hungarian capital to discuss how to end the Russian president's war in Ukraine.
Days later, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a memorandum to Washington outlining the same demands for addressing what Putin calls the "root causes" of his three-and-a-half-year-long invasion, three sources familiar with the situation told FT.
These include territorial concessions, a sharp reduction in Ukraine's armed forces, and guarantees that it will never join NATO, the publication writes.
The US then canceled the summit after a phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after which Rubio told Trump that Moscow showed no willingness to negotiate, one source familiar with the situation told the newspaper.
Trump "was not impressed by their position," another source familiar with the situation said.
The decision to cancel the Budapest summit was the culmination of a significant shift in US policy less than a week after Trump seemingly sided with Putin, including abandoning the idea of equipping Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, the newspaper notes.
At the time, American officials, as the publication notes, "were already feeling increasing doubts about the productivity of further negotiations with Russia if Moscow did not change its position."
In particular, officials were struck by Lavrov's inflexibility during a brief and concise meeting with Rubio in New York in September, the publication writes.
"Lavrov was clearly tired and seemed to believe he had more important things to do than meet or engage with the United States, which President Putin would not want," a source familiar with the situation said.
They added that Trump remains willing to meet with the Russians "when and where he believes progress can be made."
Rubio said the US still wants to meet with Russia after sanctions23.10.25, 09:52 • 3644 views
Although Trump called his October 16 phone call with Putin "very productive," the Russian leader, the newspaper writes, "irritated his American counterpart by boasting of Moscow's alleged battlefield successes near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupyansk and the Oskil River," two sources informed about their conversation reported.
"The next day, Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make concessions to Russia during a tense meeting at the White House, when he scattered maps of Ukraine, saying he was 'fed up' with them," the Financial Times reported.
Addition
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this month that while Ukraine is ready for peace talks, it will not withdraw its troops from additional territory, as Moscow demanded.
Zelenskyy says Kyiv ready for peace talks but won't cede territory – Reuters28.10.25, 13:46 • 4236 views
