President Donald Trump’s pledge to quickly meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin has unraveled following a diplomatic review, with US officials confirming Tuesday that no immediate summit is planned. The reversal contradicts Trump’s recent social media announcement that he would meet Putin in Budapest within two weeks.
The change in plans came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio conducted a Monday telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a call originally intended to arrange logistics for a presidential summit. However, American officials have concluded that no additional in-person ministerial meetings are necessary at this time, effectively postponing any Trump-Putin gathering indefinitely.
The US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the Rubio-Lavrov phone call as “productive,” though no specific outcomes or timeline were provided. Russian officials have similarly declined to commit to specific timing, with the Kremlin announcing Tuesday that there is no “precise timeframe” for organizing a Trump-Putin meeting.
The diplomatic confusion originated from a Thursday telephone call between Trump and Putin that the American president initially interpreted as a breakthrough. Trump’s enthusiasm prompted him to announce on social media that he would meet Putin within two weeks in Budapest, 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.