Washington, October 22, 2025 — The Europe Today: Plans for former U.S. President Donald Trump to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine have been placed on hold, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
The meeting, which had been announced last week, was expected to take place in Budapest, though a date had not yet been finalized, according to media reports.
The decision to delay the meeting followed a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed there was no immediate urgency for the meeting, emphasizing that “preparation is needed, serious preparation.”
The uncertainty surrounding Trump’s proposed talks with Putin marks the latest fluctuation in his efforts to mediate an end to the conflict, which has stretched into its fourth year.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders criticized what they described as Moscow’s attempts to buy time while continuing its invasion of Ukraine. They also rejected any proposal that would pressure Kyiv to cede territory captured by Russian forces in exchange for peace — an idea Trump has occasionally suggested.
In a joint statement, eight European leaders and senior European Union officials reiterated their commitment to using Russia’s frozen assets abroad to support Ukraine’s war effort, despite concerns about the legal and financial implications of such a move.
Zelenskyy said that Putin only turned to diplomacy when faced with the possibility that the United States might supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, noting that the Kremlin’s tone shifted once that pressure eased.
“As soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the dialogue,” Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post on Tuesday. “We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace.”
The European leaders’ statement reaffirmed their united stance that international borders must not be changed by force.
Trump, who had previously suggested that Ukraine might have to make territorial concessions, reversed his position last month, saying Kyiv could potentially reclaim all occupied territory. However, following his recent phone call with Putin and subsequent meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump again shifted his stance, urging both sides to “stop where they are” in the ongoing conflict.
