By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Hopes for a quick meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest may be delayed. Despite Trump’s earlier announcement of a summit following a phone call with Putin, a preliminary meeting between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been postponed. Sources indicate the postponement stems from differing expectations regarding ending the war in Ukraine, with Russia’s position seemingly unchanged. After a recent call between Rubio and Lavrov, officials are now hesitant to recommend a meeting between the two leaders next week.
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The “Putin–Trump summit in Budapest on brink of collapse — CNN” situation, well, it’s turning into quite the spectacle, isn’t it? It seems like this whole meeting, or potential lack thereof, is less about serious diplomacy and more about a high-stakes, playground-style power play. From the outside, it feels like everyone’s trying to outmaneuver each other, with the actual issues at hand – you know, like a war – getting completely overshadowed.
So, let’s unpack this. The core issue seems to be that Russia isn’t budging on its demands regarding Ukraine. And on the other side, any discussions in the White House don’t seem to be generating progress. It’s like Russia is signalling that it’s not open to compromise on territory, and then Trump, as if playing a game of poker, ups the ante by saying Ukraine can win the war. This kind of back-and-forth signals that no real groundwork is being laid for an actual negotiation. That leaves the Hungary summit, whatever it was meant to achieve, on the verge of fizzling out completely.
It’s tempting to see this as a childish squabble between world leaders, but the stakes are incredibly high. Instead, we see the potential for more threats, more bluster, and ultimately, a continuation of the same destructive cycle. It’s almost as if everyone has a script, with the predictable actors reciting lines about threats and the lack of peace. There is an arrest warrant for Putin out in the ICC, and Hungary would be obligated to detain him if he went there. That scenario has not been discussed or analyzed but it is a potential threat to the summit as well.
Then there’s the whole “conceptual plan of a planned concept of a plan” aspect, which is vintage Trump, which basically means a lot of hype and little substance. This meeting, if it did go ahead, was seen as potentially boosting Putin’s relevance and, perhaps, giving Trump an angle for a Nobel Peace Prize, as Obama received one. It’s a publicity stunt designed to give relevance to Orban and Putin as well. But this meeting in itself might be the reason for its failure: there is no real path to peace. There are no discussions as to what a real plan would involve. And the fact that Putin would probably avoid the meeting because he is afraid of a coup is a telling sign of the weaknesses Russia is showing.
The reality, it seems, is that Russia has nothing to gain from any actual negotiations right now. Why would they when they’re possibly thinking to wait out another winter, weaken Ukraine even further, and then make a significant push for more territory in the spring? It would make the Ukraine’s position weaker. Putin would have no reason to talk. So, in the meantime, all this summit stuff is just noise, delaying real solutions.
The core question isn’t whether a meeting happens or not; it’s about what it hopes to achieve. In this case, it appears Putin has the upper hand, knowing that Trump isn’t willing to send Ukraine the weapons it needs and will likely accept whatever territory Russia captures. So, the goals seem simple: legitimize Putin further and humiliate the EU. But should he even be allowed to meet?
Ultimately, this whole thing feels like a waste of time and resources. Rather than working toward real peace, it appears more to be a stage for personal agendas. The entire charade will just add to the growing list of reasons why people no longer trust the West. And it all goes back to the core point: Russia won’t negotiate, and Trump isn’t willing to push them to.