Trump-Putin Second Summit Canceled...Trump: "I Don't Want a Pointless Meeting"

Refusal of Russia's Ceasefire Terms to Hand Over Donbas
Trump Pressured Zelensky, but Faced Rejection
Positions Reaffirmed After Rubio and Lavrov Phone Call

Last August in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump (right) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo by AP News Agency

The second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been canceled. Russia presented a ceasefire condition requiring the transfer of most of the Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk), but President Trump ultimately did not accept this, resulting in a divergence of positions between the two countries.

On the 21st (local time), President Trump officially confirmed the cancellation of the summit at a Diwali celebration, the largest Hindu festival, held at the White House. In response to reporters asking whether the summit with President Putin had been canceled, he said, "I do not want to waste time. I do not want to hold pointless meetings," thus officially confirming the cancellation of the summit between the two leaders.

According to Reuters, Politico, and other sources, a White House official also stated, "There are no plans for President Trump and President Putin to meet for the time being." The official added, "U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a productive phone call, but they decided not to meet in person." Previously, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott had announced that the two ministers had spoken by phone on the 20th.

Minister Lavrov also reaffirmed Russia's position during a press conference held in Moscow immediately after his call with Secretary Rubio, stating, "Our stance that a peace agreement must be reached before a ceasefire has not changed." Regarding President Trump's recent position of "ending the war based on the current front line," he said, "Russia does not accept the signals coming from Washington," effectively expressing a rejection.

After a phone call with President Putin on the 16th, President Trump said, "Both sides have made great progress," and raised expectations by announcing that a summit would be held in Budapest, Hungary. During that call, President Putin reportedly proposed that Russia would give up parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions currently occupied by Russian forces, in exchange for securing key areas of Donbas for Russia in the long term.

However, since President Trump ultimately did not accept President Putin's ceasefire conditions, it appears that the second summit between the two leaders, which would have followed the Alaska meeting in August, has also been canceled.

After the call with President Putin, President Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept Putin's proposal, but President Zelensky firmly rejected it. The Financial Times (FT) reported that during this process, President Trump even threw a map of the Ukrainian front at President Zelensky and hurled insults at him.

Subsequently, on the 19th, President Trump announced to reporters aboard Air Force One that "Donbas needs to be cut off at this line," publicly declaring his rejection of President Putin's proposal. He added, "We can negotiate later, but for now, we must stop at the current front line," and urged, "Go home. Stop the fighting and killing."

President Zelensky, along with leaders of eight European countries including the United Kingdom, France, and Poland, issued a joint statement supporting President Trump's "ceasefire based on the current front line," lending weight to his remarks. The joint statement released that day specified that "the current line of contact should serve as the starting point for future negotiations." Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Antonio Costa, President of the European Council, also signed the statement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.