Both the United States and Russia have backed away from plans for an immediate meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials from both nations confirmed Tuesday. The development contradicts Trump’s recent social media announcement that the two leaders would convene in Budapest within two weeks.
Following a Monday telephone conversation between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US officials have determined that no further in-person diplomatic meetings are required at this stage. The decision means that Trump’s announced Budapest summit will not occur in the immediate future as originally suggested.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the Rubio-Lavrov phone call as “productive,” though the positive characterization did not translate into concrete plans for a presidential meeting. The Kremlin has similarly declined to commit to specific timing, announcing Tuesday that no “precise timeframe” has been established for a Trump-Putin summit.
The diplomatic uncertainty began last Thursday after Trump and Putin held a telephone conversation that the American president initially portrayed as a breakthrough. Trump’s optimism prompted him to announce on social media that he would meet Putin in Budapest within two weeks, timing the declaration to occur just before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles.
Trump’s relationship with Putin has undergone several dramatic shifts, including the controversial August meeting in Alaska that represented Putin’s first visit to Western territory since ordering the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Despite Trump’s previous claims that his personal connection with Putin would enable him to end the war within a day of returning to office, the president has recently acknowledged experiencing frustrations with the Russian leader.