Washington DC [US]/Moscow [Russia], October 21 : A meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, ahead of a summit between the two countries presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump has been postponed indefinitely, CNN reported, citing its sources in the White House.
This comes despite Russia on Monday stating that Lavrov and Rubio held a "constructive" conversation as part of preparations for the meeting between their two presidents in Budapest, Hungary, Russian media has reported.
"On October 20, a phone conversation was held between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A constructive discussion of potential specific steps in the interests of implementing the understandings reached during the October 16 phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump was held," the Russian foreign ministry stated according to TASS.
According to a US State Department readout of the call, Rubio "emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war, in line with President Trump's vision."
However, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, though, that officials felt after the Rubio-Lavrov call that the Russian position has not evolved enough beyond its maximalist stance. According to the sources, Lavrov and Rubio disagreed on how to peacefully settle the Ukrainian conflict and for now, the source said, Rubio is not likely to recommend the Putin-Trump meeting move forward next week, but Rubio and Lavrov could speak again this week, the US TV channel said.
On October 16, Trump had after a phone conversation with Putin and both leaders agreed to meet in Budapest, Hungary for a second summit this year. Both sides had confirmed that Lavrov and Rubio would coordinate ahead of the meeting.
The two leaders had earlier this August met in Anchorage, Alaska.
Hunagarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a Facebook post said that Hungary has a "fundamental existential interest" in ensuring the succcess of the Budapest Peace Summit. Orban said that during the first three years of the Russia-Ukraine conflict Hungary had suffered damages to its economy with energy and gas prices skyrocketing and inflation soaring and with the restoration of peace his country can go back to its "pre-war economic growth."
Meanwhile Al Jazeera reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is willing to join the summit arranged between Trump and Putin.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Zelenskyy said he would take part if he were invited. The Ukrainian president is wary of the setting for the meeting in Budapest, given Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's warm relations with Moscow and antagonistic approach to Kyiv, the news outlet said.
Zelenskyy, who reportedly had a tense discussion with Trump at the White House on October 17, said he accepts the idea of freezing the front lines but urged the US to exert more pressure on Moscow.
As per the Al Jazeera report, Zelenskyy also cautioned against another "Budapest scenario" - a reference to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum - in which Moscow and other powers provided security assurances to Ukraine and other former Soviet states in exchange for their giving up the nuclear arsenals they inherited from Soviet times.
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