[Global Times Special Correspondent Wang Yi] According to a report by CNN on the 20th, the hope that US President Trump will soon hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hungary may be "dashed". According to the report, Trump said after a phone call with Putin last Thursday that "the two agreed to hold a meeting of senior advisers next week, and the preliminary meeting will be chaired by Secretary of State rubio and other designated officials". Sources told CNN that the high-level meeting between rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov scheduled for this week has been temporarily put on hold. One of the sources said Rubio and Lavrov were at odds on expectations that Russia might stop its "invasion" of Ukraine.
On the 20th local time, Rubio had a phone conversation with Lavrov to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin. However, according to a source, U.S. officials believed after the phone call between Rubio and Lavrov that Russia's stance had not exceeded its "extremist stance" and that insufficient progress had not been made. The source said that Rubio is currently unlikely to suggest that Putin and Trump hold a meeting next week, but Rubio and Lavrov may talk again this week. Lavrov confirmed to reporters after the call that he had agreed to continue to maintain telephone contact with Rubio.
At the same time, the US “Political News Network” said on 21 that other Russian officials poured a bowl of cold water into the idea of a possible meeting between Putin and Trump soon. Shortly after CNN the US-Russian summit was postponed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said “it is impossible to postpone something that has not yet been agreed.” On 20 when asked whether Moscow had reached an agreement on the possible date of the summit, Russian President’s press secretary Peskov also replied: “No agreement has been reached.
According to RIA Novosti, Peskov told the media that comprehensive preparations for the meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Hungary have just begun and there is still a lot of "homework" to be done before Putin and Trump meet. When asked whether Ukraine President Zelensky was also participating in the summit, Peskov only replied that there were no details on the meeting between Russia-US leaders.