{"id":39455,"date":"2025-10-22T12:21:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=39455"},"modified":"2025-10-22T12:21:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T12:21:27","slug":"why-planned-trump-putin-talks-collapsed-and-what-it-means-for-ukrainetraffic_sourcerss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/10\/22\/why-planned-trump-putin-talks-collapsed-and-what-it-means-for-ukrainetraffic_sourcerss\/","title":{"rendered":"Why planned Trump-Putin talks collapsed, and what it means for Ukraine | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Plans for an in-person meeting between United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the next two weeks in Budapest, Hungary, fell apart on Tuesday, after Trump proposed \u201cfreezing\u201d the Russia-Ukraine war with a ceasefire along the current front lines.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently signalling that no meeting would take place anytime soon, Trump told the media at the White House on Tuesday: \u201cI don\u2019t want to have a wasted meeting. I don\u2019t want to have a waste of time, so I\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The latest derailing of peace talks to bring an end to Russia\u2019s 42-month-long war on Ukraine comes just two months after Trump and Putin met at a hastily arranged summit in Alaska in August this year that also did not yield any results.<\/p>\n<p>The largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II has killed tens of thousands of people on both sides.<\/p>\n<p>So, why have plans for talks collapsed yet again, and what will it take for Russia to end the war?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4039699\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4039699\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4039699\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Why-planned-Trump-Putin-talks-collapsed-and-what-it-means-for.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A boy with a bicycle looks on near buildings damaged during a Russian drone and missile strike amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Brovary, outside of Kyiv, October 10, 2025. REUTERS\/Alina Smutko TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4039699\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A boy with a bicycle looks on near buildings damaged during a Russian drone and missile attack on the town of Brovary, outside Kyiv, October 10, 2025 [Alina Smutko\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-trump-s-latest-proposal-for-russia-ukraine\">What is Trump\u2019s latest proposal for Russia-Ukraine?<\/h2>\n<p>During his presidential campaign last year, Trump boasted that it would take him just \u201c24 hours\u201d to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. More than a year later \u2013 and 10 months into his second term as US president \u2013 he is now growing increasingly frustrated about the lack of progress.<\/p>\n<p>Putin has called for the complete disarmament of Ukraine and for Russia to keep any territory it has seized during the war if it is to agree to a ceasefire. Ukraine has baulked at the notion of ceding land, and Trump has been unable to make any headway between the two positions.<\/p>\n<p>Late on Sunday, Trump called on Russia to, instead, \u201cfreeze\u201d the war along current battle lines, adding that the two sides could aim to resolve the \u201cdetails\u201d over territory at future talks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people and be done,\u201d the US president said.<\/p>\n<p>The current front line runs through the Donbas region, an industrial hub which has endured most of the fighting. On the region\u2019s future, Trump said: \u201cLet it be cut the way it is. It\u2019s cut up right now \u2013 I think 78 percent of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now. They can negotiate something later on down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"did-ukraine-and-its-european-allies-back-this-proposal\">Did Ukraine and its European allies back this proposal?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes. A statement signed by European leaders, including Zelenskyy, on Tuesday said they \u201cstrongly\u201d supported Trump\u2019s proposal to stop the fighting immediately, and that \u201cthe current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The leaders accused the Russian president of stalling the peace process. \u201cRussia\u2019s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace,\u201d the statement said. \u201cWe can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The leaders also pledged to \u201cramp up the pressure on Russia\u2019s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4051997\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4051997\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4051997\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761135684_189_Why-planned-Trump-Putin-talks-collapsed-and-what-it-means-for.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"ukraine\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4051997\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters display a banner with caricatures of Putin and Trump outside the Russian Embassy during a rally called \u2018Go Home, Ivan!\u2019 marking the anniversary of the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and showing solidarity with Ukraine, in Prague, Czech Republic, August 21, 2025 [Dorota Holubova\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-russia-s-position\">What is Russia\u2019s position?<\/h2>\n<p>On Monday, before plans for a Trump-Putin meeting collapsed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made clear that the Russian leader would not acquiesce to the latest proposal to \u201cfreeze\u201d the war. He said \u201cthe consistency of Russia\u2019s position doesn\u2019t change\u201d, referring to its insistence on hardline demands to end its war, including a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the eastern regions that Moscow has laid claim to.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the Reuters news agency reported that Russia had also sent a private communique to the US \u201cover the weekend\u201d, demanding control of all of Ukraine\u2019s Donbas region \u2013 not just the parts it has already seized.<\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by telephone on Tuesday, and later told reporters in Moscow that he had conveyed that Moscow \u201chas not changed its position compared to the understandings that were reached during the Alaska summit\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Lavrov reiterated Putin\u2019s Alaska summit position, noting that Russia would agree to end the war only after eliminating the \u201cprimary causes\u201d of the conflict \u2013 meaning the disarming of Ukraine and the ceding of territory lost to Russia during the war.<\/p>\n<p>That is unacceptable to Kyiv.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4052001\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4052001\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4052001\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761135685_788_Why-planned-Trump-Putin-talks-collapsed-and-what-it-means-for.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"trump\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4052001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trump holds an image of himself with Putin at their meeting in Alaska, as FIFA President Gianni Infantino looks on at the White House, Washington, DC, August 22, 2025 [Jonathan Ernst\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"has-trump-s-position-shifted-during-negotiations\">Has Trump\u2019s position shifted during negotiations?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes. Trump has repeatedly shifted his position while attempting to mediate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>While the previous US administration, under President Joe Biden, expressed unflinching support for Ukraine, the Trump administration took a hard line with Zelenskyy during a meeting at the Oval Office in Washington, DC, in February this year. During a fiery exchange, Trump and Vice President JD Vance admonished Zelenskyy for not expressing enough gratitude to the US for the help it has already provided.<\/p>\n<p>In March, Trump threatened sweeping secondary tariffs and sanctions against Moscow \u2013 and repeated this threat in August. But when he later met Putin in Alaska in August, he appeared to be pressuring Zelenskyy to accept a deal, even as the Kremlin demanded that Ukraine cede territories and keep away from NATO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019ll be some land swapping going on,\u201d Trump told reporters, insisting that both sides would need to cede territories.<\/p>\n<p>Switching tack yet again the following month, Trump appeared to again back the Ukrainian president, when he stated that Kyiv could win back its territories \u2013 or \u201cmaybe even go further than that\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-this-mean-for-the-war\">What does this mean for the war?<\/h2>\n<p>Mostly, more uncertainty. The collapse of the planned summit means that, for now, there is no end to the Russia-Ukraine war in sight.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Zelenskyy was again at the White House, as he pressed his demand for the supply of US Tomahawk missiles, hoping it would equip Kyiv to hit targets deep inside Russian territory. He did not secure that agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Trump had expressed openness to the idea previously; however, he backtracked from that possibility during the meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Zelenskyy has also been pressing the White House to increase military support generally, but Trump has previously signalled that Ukraine\u2019s European allies in NATO should be the ones to take a more proactive role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#planned #TrumpPutin #talks #collapsed #means #Ukraine #RussiaUkraine #war #News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plans for an in-person meeting between United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the next&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39457,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39455\/revisions\/39457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}