- By Ajeet Kumar
- Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:49 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his plan for a swift meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin was on hold because he did not want it to be a “waste of time.” It was the latest twist in Trump's stop-and-go effort to resolve the war in Ukraine.
Twists and turns in Trump-Putin meet
The decision to hold off on the meeting in Budapest, Hungary, which Trump had announced last week, was made following a call on Monday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “I don't want to have a wasted meeting,” Trump said. “I don't want to have a waste of time -- so we'll see what happens.”
Russia opposes ceasefire
Lavrov made clear in public comments on Tuesday that Russia is opposed to an immediate ceasefire. Trump, meanwhile, has been shifting his stance all year on key issues in the war, including whether a ceasefire should come before longer-term peace talks, and whether Ukraine could win back land seized by Russia during almost four years of fighting.
The US and Russian presidents last met in Alaska in August, but the encounter did not advance Trump's stalled attempts to end a war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin did not seem to be in a rush to get Trump and Putin together again either. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that “preparation is needed, serious preparation” before a meeting. Trump suggested that decisions about the meeting would be made in the coming days.
What Ukraine wants from the US
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been trying to strengthen Ukraine's position by seeking long-range Tomahawk missiles from the US, although Trump has waffled on whether he would provide them. “We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a Telegram post.
He noted that Putin returned to diplomacy and called Trump last week when it looked like Tomahawk missiles were a possibility. But "as soon as the pressure eased a little, the Russians began to try to drop diplomacy, postpone the dialogue,” Zelenskyy said.
How Trump's stance on the war has shifted
Trump initially focused on pressuring Ukraine to make concessions, but then grew frustrated with Putin's intransigence. Trump often complains that he thought his good relationship with his Russian counterpart would have made it easier to end the war.
Last month, Trump reversed his long-held position that Ukraine would have to give up land and suggested it could win back all the territory it has lost to Russia. But after a phone call with Putin last week and a subsequent meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump shifted his position again and called on Kyiv and Moscow to “stop where they are" and end the war.
On Sunday, Trump said the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine should be “cut up,” leaving most of it in Russian hands. Trump said on Monday that while he thinks it is possible that Ukraine can ultimately defeat Russia, he is now doubtful it will happen.
(With inputs from PTI)