The media today expressed doubts about the date of the summit. For example, CNN reported that Trump's efforts to meet Putin soon are being complicated because a preparatory meeting between US and Russian Foreign Ministers Mark Rubio and Sergei Lavrov is unlikely to take place this week. Moscow said today that it is premature to talk about the timing of Rubio's meeting with Lavrov.

According to an anonymous source from the Trump administration, the White House chief"does not plan to meet with President Putin in the near future."

The Kremlin also stressed today that no specific dates were mentioned by either side regarding Putin's talks with Trump. According to Moscow, both sides agreed that careful preparations were needed, which would take time.

Reuters also spoke to two unnamed European diplomats today who said the postponement of Rubio's meeting with Lavrov was a sign that the Americans may be hesitant about the presidential summit because of Russian demands to stop the war."I think the Russians want too much. It's clear to the Americans that Trump will not get any deal in Budapest," said one of the European diplomats. The other noted that the Russians have not changed their position in any way and refuse to stop troops on the existing battle lines.

It moves in a circle.

An unnamed senior Ukrainian official told AFP on Tuesday that Trump's peace efforts were going in circles. He also spoke about Trump's recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, which he described as tense and difficult. According to the official, Trump pressured Ukraine to give up Donbas.

"Yes, that's true," said the Ukrainian official when asked if Trump wanted Zelensky to withdraw Ukrainian troops from the areas of Donbas that they still control.

Mud and more mud in the Donbas. These are the sailors of the 'Donbas Sea'

Putin demands the surrender of Donbas as one of the conditions for ending the war. Much of this industrial region, which is of strategic importance to Ukraine, is currently occupied by Russia. Over the weekend, Trump said that for the war to end, the eastern Ukrainian Donbass would have to remain divided as it is.

Reuters reported today that Russia's position has remained unchanged, citing two unnamed US officials. According to the agency, the Russians have told the US in an unofficial communiqué that they demand control over the entire Donbas, although they only occupy part of it.

Reuters also reports that European allies fear that Trump will not get any significant concessions from the Russians even at his second face-to-face meeting with Putin. Trump met with Putin in Alaska in August, where the Russian president rejected a ceasefire in Ukraine. On the contrary, Ukraine has repeatedly agreed to the American proposal for a ceasefire.

The Russian army invaded Ukraine in February 2022, on direct orders from Putin. Moscow justifies the invasion, which it calls a special military operation, by, among other things, seeking to denazify Ukraine.