Kremlin Cools Summit Talk: “No Precise Timeframe” for Putin-Trump Meeting

The Kremlin announced Tuesday that there is “no precise timeframe” for a potential summit between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. This statement directly contradicts Trump’s recent claim that a meeting was just two weeks away in Budapest.
A US official, speaking anonymously, backed up the Russian stance. The official confirmed that despite Trump’s announcement, there are “no plans” for the two leaders to meet in the “immediate future.”
The flurry of speculation began after Trump spoke by telephone with Putin last Thursday. Trump hailed the call and immediately posted on social media about the Budapest meeting.
In an attempt to organize the summit Trump announced, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a “productive” call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday. Following this discussion, the US administration determined a follow-up in-person meeting between the diplomats was “not necessary.”
This marks the latest abrupt shift by Trump. Despite boasting he could end the Ukraine war in a day due to his “personal chemistry” with Putin, Trump has also acknowledged frustrations, especially following Putin’s August visit to Alaska—his first to Western soil since the 2022 invasion.