Putin humiliated as Trump cancels high level Russia meeting with peace talks on brink

The US has dramatically postponed a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister after it became clear Vladimir Putin is not ready to make concessions to end the war in Ukraine. This could have a ripple effect on an expected summit between the Kremlin leader and Donald Trump in Budapest, Hungary's capital.

This came as Russia again launched brutal strikes on Ukraine - including the use of aerial bombs in a strike on Kharkiv and its lethal TOS-1A Solntsepek flamethrower, dubbed a “poor man’s nuclear weapon”. The session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been postponed, at least for now. It was intended to hammer out details of a peace settlement ahead of the Trump-Putin session.

Now Mr Rubio is “not likely” to recommend a Trump-Putin session goes ahead in Budapest in the near future, reported CNN, citing sources.

Earlier, Mr Rubio and Mr Lavrov had spoken by phone to plan a meeting either this week or next.

Following the phone call, the US had “emphasised the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war, in line with President Trump's vision”.

The Kremlin spoke of a “constructive discussion” between Mr Lavrov and Mr Rubio towards “possible concrete steps to implement the understandings”.

Last week, Mr Trump blocked Ukraine from receiving long-range Tomahawk missiles and claimed that Mr Putin was ready for peace. However, it now appears clear to the US - as Ukraine had warned - that Russia is not willing to make any concessions.

This was a similar outcome after the Alaska meeting between the presidents in August.

Mr Lavrov’s deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, snapped back on Tuesday: “You cannot postpone what was not agreed upon". Mr Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, made this clear on Monday: "This answer is well known - the consistency of Russia's position doesn't change".

This means a rejection of the Trump demand that the war be paused on the current frontlines. Instead, Russia wants Ukraine to cede territory in the Donetsk region, which it is not ready to do, and demilitarise in a way which gives a huge advantage to Moscow.

Former US ambassador to Kyiv, Steven Pifer, told the Kyiv Post: “Clearly, President Trump got played again by Putin in the phone call on Thursday.”

If Trump were “serious”, he would be “putting pressure on Moscow to change that calculation by Putin, to make Putin understand that continuing to try to win on the battlefield will fail and will only mean more political, economic, and military costs for Russia", he added.