"A lot of homework"

Summit between Trump and Putin on the brink

The meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest will probably be postponed. There are already problems with the preparatory talks.(Bild: EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL / POOL)

US President Trump's hopes of an imminent Ukraine summit with Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been dealt a severe blow. According to insiders, there are already "differences" between the two sides in the preparations. According to CNN, a preliminary meeting between the presidents' foreign policy advisors planned for this week has been postponed, at least for the time being.

Trump, whose peace plan - an immediate end to the fighting on the current front line as a starting point for further negotiations - spoke to Putin on the phone on Thursday and then announced that delegations - led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov - would be meeting in the Hungarian capital in just a few days for preparations.

EU support for Trump's plan
Trump's plan is also "strongly" supported by numerous EU heads of state and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in a joint statement.

"Differences" between Rubio and Lavrov
However, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing insider information from the White House, that the meeting had been postponed. The reason given was "differences" between Rubio and Lavrov regarding a possible end to the war in Ukraine.

The meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest is likely to be postponed. There are already problems with the preparatory talks.(Bild: EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL / POOL)

Russia demands the entire Donbass
Following a telephone conversation between the two ministers on Monday, the US side stated that it was of the opinion that Lavrov had not deviated from his (maximum) demands. Previously, it had been said that the Russians were prepared to end the war immediately if they were to receive the entire Donbass from Ukraine. Rubio would therefore not yet recommend that Trump and Putin meet in the coming week. However, they are prepared to continue talking at ministerial level for the time being.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart Marco Rubio(Bild: APA/AFP/Pool/Johan Ordonez, Alexander Nemenov)

Peskov: "Still a lot of homework to do"
The Kremlin also said that preparations were only just beginning. Although there is no official statement from the Foreign Ministry, spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained on Monday that no date for a meeting in Budapest is yet in sight. There was still a lot of clarification needed and unanswered questions, "a lot of homework" still needed to be done.

Prior to the possible summit, Peskov criticized the contradictory statements coming from Kiev. On the one hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the time had come to end the war. At the same time, he once again rejected a renunciation of the territories annexed by Russia.

Meanwhile, Zelensky himself expressed his willingness to take part in the announced meeting between Putin and Trump in Budapest. "If I am invited to Budapest (...), we will agree on one format or another," said Zelenskyi.

"Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim"
The EU warned against making concessions to the Kremlin. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said it was "not the right way to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine". Trump had called on Ukraine to renounce the Russian-occupied part of the Donbass. Following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Kallas said: "We must not forget that Russia is the aggressor here and Ukraine is the victim."

International arrest warrant against Putin
Should a meeting actually take place, it would be the first time since the start of the war that Putin has visited an EU and NATO member state. However, Hungary has assured Putin, who is wanted under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, that he will be protected from arrest.