Confusion is swirling around a potential US-Russia summit after President Trump’s recent announcement of a meeting in Budapest. On Tuesday, a Trump administration official directly contradicted the president, stating there are “no plans” for a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the “immediate future.”
Trump had set expectations high last week. After a phone call with Putin on Thursday, he posted on social media that the two would meet within two weeks.
This prompted a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday to discuss the potential summit.
While an administration official called that discussion “productive,” they also confirmed that no further in-person diplomatic meeting was needed and, more pointedly, no presidential summit was on the books.
The Kremlin added to the uncertainty, stating on Tuesday that “no precise timeframe” has been set for any meeting. This reversal is puzzling, given Trump’s recent welcoming of Putin to Alaska and his boasts of being able to end the Ukraine war due to his “personal chemistry” with the Russian leader.