Trump canceled Putin meeting over lack of peace progress in Ukraine war

President Donald Trump canceled his meeting in Budapest, Hungary, with Russian President Vladimir Putin because he did not see enough progress toward peace — although a future summit has not been ruled out, according to the White House.

While Trump and Putin spoke on the phone Oct. 16, plans to meet were scrapped after Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.

Trump “feels unfortunately that, unfortunately, on the Russian side, lately, he hasn’t seen enough interest in enough actions to move the process toward peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “So a meeting between these two leaders is not completely out of the question. I think the president and the entire administration are hopeful that one day it can happen again, but we want to make sure that there will be a positive, tangible outcome from this meeting, and that it will be a good use of the president’s time.”

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Trump “did not see enough interest in enough action to move the process toward peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. (Associated Press)

Trump has also signaled in recent days that his patience is running out with Russia, and his administration on Wednesday imposed tough sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies.

Specifically, the sanctions freeze all U.S.-related assets of both companies and prohibit U.S. citizens from engaging in business dealings with them.

In response, Putin called the sanctions an “unfriendly act” and warned that global oil prices could rise as a result. However, he also said the sanctions would not have a major impact on Moscow’s economy.

Although Trump has regularly said in recent months that he has pleasant conversations with Putin, he has also expressed frustration with the lack of progress made as he seeks to end the conflict. Trump also said Tuesday that he didn’t want to have an “unnecessary meeting” with Putin in Hungary.

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President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Anchorage, Alaska. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

“The president wants to see action, not just words,” Leavitt said. “And I think the president is extremely motivated by the success of his Middle East peace deal to move things forward, and he wants this war to end. He’s been saying this now for nine months, being in office, and he’s increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on both sides of this war.”

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday to discuss ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that the meeting with Putin “didn’t feel right” and explained why he was not interested in arming Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles as he had previously suggested.

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President Donald Trump, pictured with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recently expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s ability to win against Russia. (Ukrainian Presidency/Document/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“There’s a huge learning curve with the Tomahawk. It’s a very powerful, very precise weapon,” Trump said Wednesday. “And maybe that’s what makes it so complex. But it’s going to take a year. It takes a year of intense training to learn how to use it, and we know how to use it. And we’re not going to teach other people. It’s just going to be too far in the future.”

Meanwhile, Trump recently expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s ability to win against Russia.

“They might still win it. I don’t think they will, but they might still win it,” Trump told reporters Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.