US President Donald Trump has no immediate plans to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, a US official has said, days after Mr Trump said they would meet within two weeks in Budapest.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after Mr Trump said that the two top diplomats would be meeting this week to arrange a Budapest summit.
"An additional in-person meeting between the secretary and foreign minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future," a Trump administration official said on condition of anonymity.
The official nonetheless called the call between Mr Rubio and Mr Lavrov "productive."
The Kremlin also said todaythere was no "precise timeframe" for a summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin.
Trump urged Ukraine to give up land in 'tense' talks: Kyiv official
Earlier, a senior Ukrainian official has said Mr Trump hd pressured Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace during "tense" talks last Friday in Washington.
The source added that the talks with Mr Trump were "not easy", and that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt like they were being "dragged out" and "going in circles".
Mr Zelensky met Mr Trump at the White House last week, hoping to capitalise on the US leader's growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin's reluctance to accept a ceasefire.
But he instead left empty-handed after Mr Trump - who spoke with Mr Putin the day before - denied his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles and pressured him into making a deal.
When asked if Mr Trump urged Mr Zelensky to pull out of land Ukraine still controlled - one of Mr Putin's key demands - the Ukrainian official told AFP: "Yes, that's true."
Following his meeting with Mr Zelensky, Donald Trump said on social media that their talks were "very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!"
Mr Trump promised to end Russia's three-and-a-half-year invasion within "24 hours" of his inauguration in January, but has failed to extract any concessions from Mr Putin.
His position on the war has repeatedly shifted following his conversations with both Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky.
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Europe backs Trump's Ukraine peace push
European leaders threw their support behind President Donald Trump's peace push for Ukraine, while reaffirming their red lines, as the Kremlin cast doubt on chances of an imminent summit between the US leader and Vladimir Putin.
Fresh from his Gaza peace deal, Mr Trump has resumed the search for an elusive breakthrough in Ukraine, as the war grinds into its fourth year since Russia's invasion, through contacts with both Kyiv and Moscow.
The likelihood of a Trump-Putin summit taking place in Budapest within two weeks, as promised by the US leader, appeared to recede as Moscow warned laying the groundwork "could take time".
But the mooted sit-down has revived the prospect of Washington and Moscow cutting a deal that could disadvantage Kyiv and threaten broader European security interests.
In a joint statement today, leaders including Mr Zelensky, France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz threw their weight behind Mr Trump's peace effort - while appearing to seek to hold him to his public comments.
"We strongly support President Trump's position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations," said a statement signed by Mr Zelensky, EU chiefs Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Macron, Mr Merz, Britain's Keir Starmer and Italy's Giorgia Meloni.
"We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force," said the leaders, who also included those of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Poland.
Closing ranks
In comments made on board Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump made no references to Kyiv ceding territory.
"What I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines," Mr Trump told reporters, adding: "They can negotiate something later on down the line."
Mr Zelensky, who is pushing to attend any summit in Budapest after being shut out of Mr Trump's last meeting with Mr Putin, in Alaska, has ruled out territorial concessions.
France's Macron said Ukraine's Western allies were ready to provide security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire, but that Kyiv alone would decide on any territorial negotiations.
"No one else can do this. Therefore, it is up to Ukraine to decide for itself and its territory," Mr Macron said in Slovenia.
EU leaders are set to close ranks in support of Ukraine at a Brussels summit on Thursday, followed a day later by a "coalition of the willing" meeting of European leaders in London to discuss the next steps to help Kyiv.
Their statement today was about "clearly" reiterating Europe's position, expressed during a visit by the leaders to Washington following the US president's talks with Mr Putin in August, an EU official told AFP.
'Strongest' Ukraine position
In the text, European leaders slammed "Russia's stalling tactics", which "have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace".
"Therefore we are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position - before, during, and after any ceasefire," they said.
The European Union is considering a new €140-billion ($163-billion) loan for Ukraine funded by frozen Russian central bank assets, which will be discussed at Thursday's summit in Brussels.
Officials are hoping the summit will produce a green light to move ahead with a detailed legal proposal on the loan.
"We must ramp up the pressure on Russia's economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace," the leaders said.
