Russia has handed over to the US an unofficial document in which it redraws the map of Ukraine and sets its own conditions for which territories are Russian, the “Reuters“ agency reported, citing its American sources.
The communiqué reiterated Russia's demand to take control of the entire Ukrainian region of Donbas, one of the sources said. This position effectively rejects Donald Trump's proposal that the front lines should be frozen in their current positions.
Russia also reiterated its ultimatum that NATO troops should not be deployed in Ukraine as part of any peace agreement.
This is the reason for the cancellation of the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest. The American leader previously announced that the two leaders would meet in the Hungarian capital in two weeks, but according to Western media, this meeting is likely not to take place.
The White House also confirmed that no such meeting is planned in the near future. The Kremlin announced yesterday that no specific date has been set.
Trump wants to end the war in Ukraine on the current front lines and then sign a ceasefire or peace agreement. Russia, for its part, wants to eradicate the “root causes” of the war, i.e. Ukraine to be fully under Russian control with a government installed by Moscow and without any Western troops and military equipment on Ukrainian soil.
US President Donald Trump said that he does not want a “pointless meeting” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, AFP reported.
Trump said this after it became clear earlier yesterday that there would be no new meeting between him and Putin for the time being after the one in Alaska in August. The reason is the differences in positions on the war in Ukraine. Only last week the US president announced such a meeting in Budapest, highlighting progress in the negotiations on Ukraine.
“No, no, I don't want a pointless meeting. I don't want to waste time, so we'll see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House yesterday. Russia's refusal to immediately agree to a ceasefire has cast a shadow over efforts to start negotiations.