Financial Times: Trump-Putin summit cancelled after Moscow sends note with tough conditions regarding peace in Ukraine to Washington
The Financial Times revealed that the United States decided to cancel the planned summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, due to what it described as “Moscow’s hardline demands regarding Ukraine”.
According to the Financial Times, the cancellation decision came after a tense phone call between senior officials in the foreign ministries of the two countries, following Russia’s sending of a diplomatic note to Washington outlining its conditions for holding the summit.
The summit was supposed to be held in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, following a preliminary agreement between Trump and Putin last month to discuss ways to end the Ukrainian war.
But the plan quickly collapsed after the United States received a memorandum from the Russian Foreign Ministry demanding what it called addressing the root causes of the conflict, which, according to the report, included territorial concessions from Ukraine, a significant reduction in the size of its army, and guarantees that it wouldn’t join NATO.
The Financial Times noted that the Russian memo was followed by a tense phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, Marco Rubio.
The Financial Times quoted informed sources as saying that Rubio told Trump that Moscow had shown no real willingness to negotiate, while another source stated that the US president didn’t like Russia’s position during those communications.
The Financial Times added that US officials have begun to question the usefulness of continuing talks with the Russian side unless Moscow shows flexibility in its positions, especially after hardening its conditions regarding Ukrainian sovereignty and its security future.
Despite the cancellation of the summit, sources close to the White House confirmed that President Trump remains open to resuming dialogue with Russia at a later date, if there are indications that real progress can be made.
The Financial Times noted that Trump described his call with Putin on October 16 as positive and productive, but the Russian leader’s talk about the Russian army’s military successes near the city of Kobyansk in eastern Ukraine and along the Oskil River angered the US president, according to sources familiar with the conversation.
