The Kremlin had earlier said that no dates were decided for the possible summit between US President Trump and his Russian counterpart Putin in Hungary.
American officials said Tuesday that US President Donald Trump has no immediate plans to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, despite Trump’s recent claim that the two leaders would meet soon in Budapest.
“There are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future," a Trump administration official told Reuters.
The Kremlin also signalled that no such summit was imminent, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying it would require “serious preparation."
A meeting between the presidents would typically be preceded by talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but it remains unclear when the two will connect.
Officials told the Associated Press that the summit was postponed after Trump and Putin spoke by phone.
Peskov said Lavrov and Rubio would need to coordinate a call to address “many pre-summit issues," including forming negotiating teams and agreeing on an agenda.
“There are many questions, negotiating teams need to be determined, and so on," he said. “Everything will be done in stages, but, of course, the presidents’ will is there. The summit could indeed take place within two weeks or a little later. There’s a general understanding that nothing should be put off."
“We cannot postpone something that has not been finalised. Neither President Trump nor President Putin have given exact dates. Preparation is needed, serious preparation," Peskov added.
The development also comes amid allegations made by officials in Ukraine that Donald Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to cede parts of eastern Ukraine to Russia.
After a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump shifted his position again and called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are" in the more than three-year war.
On Sunday, Trump said that the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine should be “cut up," leaving most of it in Russian hands.
Trump said Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, he’s now doubtful it will happen.
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