US President Donald Trump has canceled a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest. Trump announced this during his meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, noting that regular phone contacts with Putin have yielded no results.
The American president expected that Putin would recognize the threat of new sanctions and agree to Trump's proposal for a ceasefire on the Russia-Ukraine front and the start of peace negotiations. However, this initiative found no support from Russia – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow would not change its position without resolving issues related to the so-called "root causes of the conflict."
Following this, analysts believe the meeting with Putin became pointless for Trump, who did not want to risk another foreign policy failure. Against this backdrop, the US, for the first time in Trump's presidency, imposed serious sanctions on the Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil. Experts predict substantial difficulties for Russian oil exports, especially to India, where procurement processes are already being adjusted.
Trump expressed hope that Putin would agree to a ceasefire and warned about the possibility of increased pressure on Russia if the Kremlin continues to avoid compromise.
In military matters, Trump clarified that the US is not ready to launch missiles at Russia itself and has no influence over how Ukraine uses Western-supplied weapons. Thus, Washington maintains distance and avoids direct responsibility for possible escalation.
Trump's actions, including tougher sanctions, signal to the Kremlin that the period of diplomatic gestures is over and that further pressure will be unavoidable without real concessions.
