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The White House has confirmed that a previously planned meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been canceled.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: Last week, President Trump announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin would hold an in-person summit in Budapest within two weeks to discuss a potential resolution to the war in Ukraine. The meeting was framed as a follow-up to a reportedly productive phone call between the two leaders, with hopes of negotiating a ceasefire or broader peace agreement. At the time, Trump described the planned talks as a significant diplomatic step and said the meeting could lead to a possible resolution.

What’s going on now: In a notable development, President Trump confirmed that the meeting was now off, telling reporters he did not want a “wasted meeting” or to “waste time,” given the lack of progress toward an agreement. The White House echoed this sentiment, stating that there were “no plans” for the summit “in the immediate future.” US officials cited fundamental differences between American and Russian positions as the key reason, particularly Putin’s unwillingness to consider a ceasefire along current battle lines.

Instead, President Trump, with support from European Union leaders, advocated for an immediate halt to hostilities and proposed freezing the war at the existing front lines as a starting point for peace negotiations. This proposal would essentially lock in the territorial status quo until a formal agreement could be reached. Russia rejected this idea, with the Kremlin reiterating its longstanding demands: full Ukrainian military withdrawal from the Donbas region, recognition of Russian sovereignty over territories it currently occupies, and a guarantee that no NATO forces would be deployed in Ukraine.

The cancellation of the summit also followed a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, where Trump reportedly pressured Zelensky to cede large parts of the Donbas region (specifically the eastern territories of Donetsk and Luhansk) to Russia as part of a deal. According to Ukrainian officials, Trump framed this as a necessary compromise to end the war. However, Zelensky rejected the idea, noting that Ukraine would not agree to surrender any territory. In addition, Ukraine’s constitution explicitly prohibits the cession of sovereign territory, making such a proposal legally impossible without constitutional reform (a process that cannot occur while the country is at war).

On the Russian side, officials responded to the cancellation by downplaying its significance. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that no date had ever been finalized and emphasized that “serious preparations” were still required for any future summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed Western media reports about the meeting being scrapped as “infodumps” designed to derail diplomatic progress.