US President Donald Trump announced the cancellation of the planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest. This was discussed in the president's speech published on the White House's official YouTube channel, reports Topnews.
Trump stated that he thoroughly assessed the situation when making the decision and said that "at the moment, this meeting seemed like the wrong step." He believes that the US should now "take a much stronger position" towards Russia.
"I felt that this meeting would not yield results, so I canceled it. But I definitely intend to implement it in the future," Trump said.
Nevertheless, the American leader did not hide his intention to increase pressure on Moscow. "It's time to impose sanctions against Russia," he said during his speech.
At the same time, Trump emphasized that both Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "want to resolve the conflict peacefully." "If this conflict had started when I was president, it wouldn't have happened at all," he said, recalling that the war in Ukraine "is nearing its fourth year."
The American leader called on both sides to "cease fire, stay on the existing line, and return home." According to him, Washington's main goal remains "unconditional peace" and "reducing tension."
Addressing the issue of armament, Trump emphasized that only the US possesses Tomahawk cruise missile control technology, stating that he "has no intention of transferring them to other countries." "We can only use them when necessary, but we don't want to do that," he said.
Earlier, the American press reported that the US was delaying the delivery of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for technical reasons.
Although Trump stated that he would make the final decision on the Budapest summit "in the next two days," the meeting was ultimately canceled. At the same time, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó commented that "the meeting of the presidents of Russia and the USA will undoubtedly take place, the issue is only in its date."
According to CNN sources, after a conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Washington realized that "Moscow's position has hardly changed." Therefore, holding the summit in the coming weeks is assessed as "unlikely."
RIA Novosti, citing White House sources, reported that Trump discussed the issue of a meeting with advisors, but decided that "now is not the time for negotiations."
As a reminder, Trump and Putin spoke by phone for two hours on October 16th. President Trump stated that the conversation was "productive" and expressed his intention to hold a meeting in Budapest.
At the same time, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the president is "not yet satisfied" with the negotiation process. "The President did not hide his disappointment with the current process," he said.
Trump concluded: "We hope the conflict will end. But this must be done without pressure, without words, and without force."
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