President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are not expected to meet anytime soon after their envoys had a “productive phone call.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov talked on Tuesday, a White House official told The Hill newspaper.
The White House official said because the phone call went well, an in-person meeting “between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday there was no sense of urgency for Trump and Putin to meet, saying that “preparation is needed, serious preparation,” according to The Associated Press.
“I believe American officials have concluded that Russia’s position has remained largely unchanged over time and remains within the bounds of its initial maximalist demands,” Lavrov said during a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday, according to Politico.
Last week, Trump had a phone call with Putin and he said they would meet in Budapest, Hungary, to further the conversation about ending the war in Ukraine. A date had not been set for that meeting.
“I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “President Putin thanked the First Lady, Melania, for her involvement with children.”
Trump also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington last week. Trump reportedly refused to grant Zelenskyy’s request for U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles to strike deeper into Russia.
The last time Trump and Putin met was in Alaska in August to discuss possibilities of the war ending. Trump was unable to get any concessions from Putin and after the meeting Russia ended up increasing attacks on Ukraine.
The war began in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in multiple casualties of civilians.
International economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed at a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday, according to AP.
“We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defense industry, until Putin is ready to make peace,” a statement from leaders of countries in the EU said.
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