Trump Says He Doesn’t Want a ‘Wasted’ Meeting with Putin

United States President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had shelved plans for a summit in Budapest with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the Ukraine war, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting.

The reversal came only days after Trump had declared his intention to meet Putin within two weeks in the Hungarian capital, following what he described as a “productive” phone call aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Diplomatic Reversal

During the Oval Office press briefing, Trump told reporters: “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.”

When asked by an AFP correspondent what had prompted his change of heart, he replied:

“A lot of things are happening on the war front. And we’ll be notifying you over the next two days as to what we’re doing.”

A White House official later confirmed there were “no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called off a scheduled meeting to coordinate the Budapest summit, following a phone call on Monday, according to the White House.

Trump has long relied on his personal rapport with Putin to broker a potential peace deal in Ukraine but has grown increasingly frustrated by the Russian leader’s stance.

Ukraine and several European allies have struggled to adjust to Trump’s shifting diplomatic tone. According to a senior Ukrainian official who spoke to AFP, the talks between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last Friday were “not easy.”

The official revealed that Trump pressured Zelensky to relinquish the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace — a core demand of Moscow.

“Yes, that’s true,” the Ukrainian source confirmed when asked if Trump urged Zelensky to withdraw from territories still under Kyiv’s control.

Zelensky left the meeting empty-handed, as Trump — who had spoken with Putin the day before — refused to supply advanced weaponry and pushed for a compromise instead.

Ukraine considers the Donbas, which includes the industrial regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, to be an inseparable part of its sovereign territory and has consistently rejected the idea of ceding land.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that there was no set date for any future meeting between Trump and Putin. The two last met in Alaska in August, but failed to make headway on the Ukraine issue.

In contrast, European leaders have firmly rejected any notion of Ukraine surrendering territory. Instead, they have voiced support for freezing the conflict along current battle lines.

The statement read: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was en route to Washington on Tuesday for further discussions with Trump, the alliance confirmed.

Later this week:

• Thursday – EU leaders are scheduled to gather in Brussels to reaffirm support for Ukraine.
• Friday – A “coalition of the willing” meeting in London will bring together European heads of state to discuss the next phase of assistance for Kyiv.

Background: The War in Ukraine

Russia continues to occupy vast areas of Ukraine, much of it devastated by ongoing fighting. Despite repeated international mediation attempts, a durable peace agreement remains elusive, with both Moscow and Kyiv standing firm on territorial claims.