2:55President Donald Trump in Washington, Oct. 10, 2025 and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Oct. 16, 2025.EPA/Shutterstock/Reuters
There are currently no intentions for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term," a White House source stated on Tuesday — postponing a summit that had been anticipated in Hungary in the approaching weeks.
Trump revealed on Thursday that he and Putin intended to reconvene shortly, forecasting that it would transpire "within approximately two weeks."
Initially, he noted, conversations would be held between high-ranking advisors from both nations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his equivalent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, communicated via telephone on Monday. A face-to-face discussion between the two is currently not anticipated.
President Donald Trump in Washington, Oct. 10, 2025 and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Oct. 16, 2025.EPA/Shutterstock/Reuters
"Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov had a fruitful discussion. As such, a further in person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is deemed unnecessary, and there are no ongoing plans for President Trump to convene with President Putin in the immediate future," the White House official clarified.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin minimized the likelihood of a potential face-to-face encounter between Trump and Putin. The Kremlin asserted that a date had never been formalized for any summit.
"You cannot postpone something that was not on the schedule," a spokesperson for Putin articulated.
When questioned regarding the prospective meeting Tuesday afternoon during an Oval Office event honoring Diwali, Trump remarked, "I am disinclined to have an unproductive meeting. I have no desire to waste time, so I will observe how events unfold."
When prompted about the reason for the shift since the announcement of his intent to meet with Putin in Budapest, Trump responded, "Well, I didn’t explicitly say anything. I didn’t confirm it would occur. And, as you know, outcomes are uncertain. However, numerous developments are transpiring on that issue, particularly in the war arena involving Ukraine and Russia. We anticipate updates on our course of action over the subsequent days."
Separately, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is scheduled to visit Washington on Wednesday for a session with Trump, as per a NATO press statement. The White House has verified this impending meeting.
The two will deliberate on the conflict in Ukraine prior to a gathering of the Coalition of the Willing in London on Friday, indicated a NATO representative.
Following a diplomatic accomplishment in the Middle East, Trump resumed his endeavors to resolve the Russia-Ukraine situation as Moscow’s incursion persists after 3 1/2 years.
However, little seems to have evolved since his recent conversation with Putin last Thursday and his personal meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House this past Friday.
Zelenskyy visited Washington to present the case for sought-after U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles and supplementary military resources. Zelenskyy revealed on Monday that the Trump administration opted against providing Ukraine with the long-range Tomahawks, which would enable Kyiv to conduct strikes further within Russian territory, though he mentioned that the "matter remains under consideration."
Regardless, Zelenskyy characterized the assembly at the White House as encouraging and conveyed his anticipation of a potential invitation to partake in the now-canceled rendezvous between Trump and Putin in Budapest.
Trump has advocated for a cessation of hostilities in the Russia-Ukraine war along the current battle lines, and refuted a story by the Financial Times that he had pressed Zelenskyy to relinquish the whole Donbas region to Russia.
On Monday, Trump moderated his earlier remarks, expressing his belief that Ukraine could regain all of its territory presently occupied by Russia.
"Certainly, they might," Trump declared. "They still retain a possibility of prevailing. While I don’t anticipate it, they theoretically could. I never guaranteed victory; I merely observed that in warfare, outcomes are unpredictable, marked by both adverse and favorable circumstances."
Tuesday's declaration regarding the postponement of a second prospective Trump-Putin summit transpired just hours after Russia’s lead diplomat conveyed that the U.S. and Russia are still quite divergent concerning approaches to resolving the conflict with Ukraine.
"Currently, Washington posits that we must achieve an immediate ceasefire without further deliberation. We must cease all activity and permit history to be the ultimate arbiter. However, if we were simply to halt our efforts, we risk neglecting the foundational causes of this discord, which the American administration purportedly understood thoroughly upon Donald Trump’s assumption of power," Lavrov commented.
Chris Boccia, Michelle Stoddart and Alexandra Hutzler from ABC News provided content for this report.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
