European nations are working with Ukraine on a new proposal for a ceasefire in Russia’s war along current battle lines.
A planned Budapest summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold on Tuesday (21 October), as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.
A senior White House official told that “there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future” after Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a “productive call” but opted against an in-person meeting.
Lavrov said the place and the timing of the next Trump-Putin summit was less important than the substance of implementing the understandings reached in Alaska.
The Kremlin said there was no clear date and that “serious preparation” for a summit was needed, which may take time.
“Listen, we have an understanding of the presidents, but we cannot postpone what has not been finalised,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “Neither President Trump nor President Putin gave exact dates.”
Asked if Moscow had an understanding of a possible date for the summit, Peskov said: “No, there is no understanding.”
Trump had announced last week that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. But Putin has been unwilling to consider concessions. Moscow has long demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire.
Moscow had previously indicated that “there is the will of the presidents” to hold such a meeting, but that practical arrangements would first be worked out by Lavrov and Rubio.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, said he was ready to join the Budapest talks “if invited.” His statement came amid growing tension over conflicting peace proposals.
Zelenskyy rejects giving up Donbas
According to diplomatic sources, Trump had raised the idea of a Budapest summit during his call with Putin – just one day before meeting Zelenskyy at the White House. Reports later emerged that their conversation was heated, with Trump allegedly urging Zelenskyy to consider giving up control over large parts of Donetsk and Luhansk as part of a potential deal with Moscow.
Reportedly Zelenskyy firmly rejected that option, reiterating that Ukraine “cannot relinquish” its remaining positions in the Donbas. Giving them up, he said, would only allow Russia to use the region as a “springboard for further attacks.”
Russia reiterated its long-standing terms for a peace deal in a private communique known as a “non paper” that it sent to the U.S. last weekend, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the situation.
The communique reaffirmed Russia’s demand for full control of the long-contested eastern Donbas region, according to one official, effectively rejecting Trump’s view that a ceasefire should commence with a freeze of the frontlines at their prevailing locations.
Russia controls all of the province of Luhansk and about 75% of neighbouring Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas region.
On Monday, Trump voiced support for a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and several European leaders, effectively freezing the conflict along the current front line. “Let it be cut the way it is,” he said. “Cut and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people.”
The Kremlin quickly dismissed the idea. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s position “does not change,” referring to Moscow’s long-standing demand for the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the eastern regions.
Foreign Minister Lavrov went further, calling the notion of freezing the current front “a temporary ceasefire” that would not address “the root causes of the conflict.” By that, he meant Moscow’s maximalist conditions: recognition of full Russian sovereignty over Donetsk and Luhansk, and the demilitarisation of Ukraine – terms unacceptable to both Kyiv and its European allies.
Earlier the same day, European leaders issued a joint statement with Zelenskyy, insisting that peace talks must begin with an immediate freeze of the front line and accusing Russia of lacking “seriousness” about peace.
European leaders called on Washington on Tuesday to hold firm in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, with present battle lines to serve as the basis for any future talks.
Europeans concerned Trump will get no concessions
Ukraine’s European allies have been concerned that Trump could meet Putin for a second time without getting any serious concessions from the Russian leader.
The choice of Budapest as a venue for a Putin-Trump meeting is contentious within the EU, where Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is an outlier as one of the few leaders to maintain warm relations with Russia.
Neither side has publicly abandoned plans for Trump to meet Putin. Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, was in Washington on Tuesday, where he posted on Facebook: “We have some serious days ahead”.
Any trip to Budapest would require Putin to fly through the airspace of other EU countries. Poland said on Tuesday it could force Putin’s plane down and arrest him on an international warrant if he flies over its territory, but Bulgaria said Putin could use its airspace to reach the meeting.