Plans for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have dissolved following ministerial consultations, with US officials confirming Tuesday that no immediate summit is scheduled. The development contradicts Trump’s recent announcement that he would meet the Russian leader in Budapest within two weeks.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by telephone Monday in what a US administration official described as a “productive” conversation. However, American officials have concluded that no further in-person ministerial meetings are required, and consequently, no near-term presidential summit will take place.
The Kremlin has similarly declined to commit to specific timing for a Trump-Putin meeting, with Russian officials stating Tuesday that there is no “precise timeframe” for organizing such a summit. The cautious messaging from both Washington and Moscow suggests that concrete plans for a presidential meeting remain distant despite ongoing diplomatic communication.
The confusion surrounding potential summit timing originated from a Thursday telephone call between Trump and Putin that the American president initially portrayed as significant diplomatic progress. Trump’s optimism prompted him to announce on social media that he would meet Putin in Budapest within two weeks, timing the declaration to coincide with his upcoming meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the potential provision of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
Trump’s handling of relations with Putin has been characterized by dramatic policy shifts, including the controversial August meeting in Alaska that marked Putin’s first appearance on Western soil since launching the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Despite Trump’s previous boasts about his ability to leverage personal chemistry with Putin to end the war quickly, he has recently acknowledged experiencing frustrations in dealing with the Russian president.
