Kremlin says there is \u2018no precise timeframe\u2019 for Ukraine ceasefire talks after Trump claimed meeting could happen within two weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doubts are emerging over the likelihood of a swift meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Moscow appeared on Tuesday to downplay expectations that a summit is imminent, saying that there is \u201cno precise timeframe\u201d and that preparations for a meeting between the leaders of Russia and the US \u201ccould take time\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Earlier, reports in the United States media suggested that Moscow and Washington have differing views on the necessary conditions for ending the conflict.<\/p>\n
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there is \u201cno understanding\u201d in Moscow about a possible date for the planned meeting in Budapest, casting doubt on Trump\u2019s claim<\/a> that it could happen within two weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cNo precise timeframe was initially set here,\u201d said Peskov. \u201cPreparation is needed, serious preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n Hopes for a near-term summit were also dimmed by reports that a planned preparatory meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, will not go ahead this week.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday said it was \u201cpremature\u201d to discuss details of the pre-meeting.<\/p>\n Lavrov and Rubio spoke by phone on Monday, and their conversation may have revealed some differences in expectations.<\/p>\n CNN, citing informed sources, reported that their meeting has been \u201ctabled, at least for now\u201d, with one source pointing to US concern that Moscow is sticking to a \u201cmaximalist stance\u201d regarding its conditions for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n Lavrov dismissed the report as \u201cunscrupulous\u201d, but still insisted that Moscow\u2019s position has not changed since Trump and Putin held a summit in Alaska two months ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia has not changed its position compared to the understandings that were reached during the Alaska summit,\u201d Lavrov told reporters.<\/p>\n He added that he had conveyed this directly to Rubio.<\/p>\n The Russian diplomat said that the place and the timing of the next Trump-Putin summit \u2013 which Trump announced after a phone call with Putin on October 16 \u2013 mattered less than implementing what the two sides agreed to in Alaska.<\/p>\n At the August summit<\/a>, Putin said his country is committed to ending the war, but that the conflict\u2019s \u201cprimary causes\u201d must be eliminated for an agreement to be long lasting.<\/p>\n Previously, Moscow\u2019s list of \u201cprimary causes\u201d has included demands for territory and for Ukraine to remain \u201cneutral\u201d and its military capabilities to be dismantled.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Putin continues to choose violence\u2019<\/p>\n Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and numerous European leaders responded by accusing Moscow of dragging its feet in peace efforts while continuing to wage \u201cviolence and destruction\u201d on its neighbour.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia\u2019s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace,\u201d said a joint statement by Zelenskyy and eight European leaders. \u201cWe can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n The apparent summit delay poses another setback for Trump, who has promised to end the war quickly but failed to extract concrete concessions from Moscow.<\/p>\n After months of wavering messages, Trump has most recently called for freezing the current battle lines<\/a> as a starting point for negotiations.<\/p>\n