Putin–Trump summit in Budapest on brink of collapse — CNN

US President Donald Trump's hopes for a quick meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest may be dashed. The reason is Russia's position on ending the war in Ukraine, CNN reports.

In particular, on October 16, after a telephone conversation with Putin, Trump announced that a new summit would take place between them. But first, they "agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week."

"The United States’ initial meetings will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with various other people, to be designated," he wrote on Truth Social.

However, a White House representative told CNN that the preliminary meeting between Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been postponed for now.

It is unclear why the meeting will not take place this week, although one source said that the secretary of state and the Russian foreign minister have different expectations regarding the possible end of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Yesterday, October 20, Rubio and Lavrov held a telephone conversation and discussed next steps following Trump and Putin's conversation about a possible end to the war.

"Rubio emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war, in line with President Trump's vision," the US State Department said.

However, a source familiar with the situation said that after this call, officials believe that Russia's position on the war in Ukraine has not changed enough.

According to the source, Rubio is unlikely to recommend a meeting between Putin and Trump next week. At the same time, the Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister may talk again this week.