Moscow says no plans for Lavrov-Rubio meeting before Budapest summit

2025-10-21 12:38:41, Kosova & Bota CNA

The announced meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to not take place on time, as preparatory talks between the heads of diplomacy of both countries have stalled.

CNN reported on October 21 that talks between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have been postponed.

In several responses, a Russian deputy foreign minister has said that the meeting is not even planned.

" You can't push something that hasn't even been agreed upon. We haven't confirmed what some Western sources have written about. We haven't reached an agreement on the time or location of such a contact," he was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

The idea of ??a Trump-Putin summit in Budapest came after a phone conversation between the two leaders on October 17.

Initially, there were expectations that Rubio and Lavrov would meet to make preparations before the big talks.

The US State Department confirmed that Lavrov had a phone conversation with Rubio on October 20.

The Russian Foreign Ministry described the discussions as "constructive," while the US State Department said in a statement that "Rubio stressed the importance of the upcoming engagement as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to cooperate to achieve an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, in line with Trump's views."

Trump said on October 20 that efforts to reach an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war are underway, and warned that if an agreement is not reached, the consequences will be serious.

"We're still in the process of reaching an agreement to end the war. If we do, that would be fantastic. If we don't, a lot of people are going to pay a heavy price," Trump said during a meeting at the White House with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Trump has stepped up efforts to reach a ceasefire, as after his conversation with Putin, he also held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

Nothing much has been achieved in the talks with Zelensky.

Zelensky and senior European Union officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about Putin's willingness to end the war, and even issued a joint statement on October 21.

"Russia's blocking tactics have repeatedly shown that Ukraine is the only serious party to peace," said the statement signed by Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, and others.

"We are all seeing that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction," they said, among other things.

Despite this, Zelensky has said he is ready to negotiate with Putin and Trump in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

Hungary, on the other hand, is making preparations for the summit. Its Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, has said he will travel to Washington on October 21, but has not given further details about the meeting.

Diplomatic sources have told Radio Free Europe that NATO chief Mark Rutte may also travel to the US capital on October 22.

The war in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the war a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine.

The West has responded to Russia by hitting the country's economy with harsh sanctions.

As a result of the war, thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced from their homes./ REL