WASHINGTON – The White House has downplayed reports of an imminent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite Trump’s recent claim that the two leaders would hold talks “within two weeks” in Budapest.
A senior Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday there were “no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future.”
The clarification came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss ongoing diplomatic issues.
Trump had earlier suggested that the two top diplomats would meet this week to lay the groundwork for a summit in the Hungarian capital.
“An additional in-person meeting between the secretary and the foreign minister is not necessary,” the official said, describing the Monday call between Rubio and Lavrov as “productive.”
The Kremlin also signaled uncertainty, saying there was “no precise timeframe” for a summit between the two presidents.
Trump and Putin last spoke by phone on Thursday, a day before the US president met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the potential supply of American-made Tomahawk missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russia.
Trump had hailed his call with Putin as a sign of “progress,” posting shortly afterward on social media that the two would meet in Budapest within a fortnight.
The statement marked another unpredictable turn in Trump’s dealings with the Kremlin. In August, he hosted Putin in Alaska — the Russian leader’s first visit to Western territory since ordering the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Trump has often touted his ability to personally negotiate an end to the Ukraine war, he has recently voiced frustration with Putin, saying that progress has been slower than he anticipated.
