White house Downplays Potential Trump-Putin Meeting Amidst Shifting Ukraine Peace Talks
WASHINGTON - The White House has walked back earlier suggestions of an imminent meeting between President Donald Trump and russian president Vladimir putin, stating Tuesday that no such encounter is planned “in the immediate future.” This proclamation follows a Monday phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which the two discussed a potential summit aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
The shift comes after President Trump indicated on February 16th he hoped to meet with Putin “within two weeks,” according to reporting from RTP.pt. Though,a senior white House official,speaking on condition of anonymity,confirmed the change in plans. Secretary Rubio and Minister Lavrov also have no current plans for an in-person meeting.
Russia has similarly downplayed the prospect of a near-term summit, stating that ”no specific deadline has been set.” This follows a phone call between Putin and Trump last week, after which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington for his third meeting with President Trump in ten months.
Amidst stalled diplomatic efforts – including the postponement of a planned summit in Budapest and the failure of talks in Alaska in August 2025 – Moscow has reportedly reiterated its demands for full control of the Donbass region of Ukraine, a position at odds with the current U.S.stance, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters. These officials said Russia delivered a “non-paper” outlining these terms last weekend.
Ukraine has expressed skepticism regarding Russia’s commitment to diplomacy, with President Zelensky stating Russia “lost interest in diplomacy almost automatically” after President Trump postponed a decision on sending Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official criticized Trump’s policy as “walking in circles.”
Simultaneously occurring,European nations are collaborating with ukraine on a 12-point proposal to end the war along current lines of confrontation. bloomberg News reported that a peace council chaired by President Trump would oversee the implementation of this plan, according to sources familiar with the matter.