A proposed summit in Budapest between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been canceled, with US officials confirming Tuesday that no immediate meeting between the two leaders is planned. The cancellation contradicts Trump’s recent social media posts declaring he would meet Putin within two weeks in the Hungarian capital.
The decision came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone Monday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in what was intended to be a planning session for the presidential summit. However, American officials have now determined that no additional in-person meeting between the foreign ministers is necessary, effectively putting any Trump-Putin gathering on indefinite hold.
A US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the Rubio-Lavrov phone call as “productive,” suggesting substantive discussions occurred despite the absence of concrete summit plans. The Kremlin has echoed this uncertainty, with Russian officials stating Tuesday that there is no “precise timeframe” for organizing a meeting between Trump and Putin.
The diplomatic whiplash began last Thursday following a telephone conversation between Trump and Putin that the American president initially portrayed as a breakthrough moment. Trump’s enthusiasm led him to quickly post on social media that he would meet Putin within two weeks in Budapest, an announcement made just before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russia.
Trump’s approach to Putin has been marked by abrupt changes, including the controversial August decision to welcome Putin to Alaska for the Russian leader’s first visit to Western soil since launching the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Despite Trump’s previous claims that his personal chemistry with Putin would allow him to end the war within a day of returning to the White House, he has recently acknowledged experiencing frustrations in dealing with the Russian president.