Exactly why Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin was cancelled sparking WW3 fears
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had been set to meet in Hungary's capital of Budapest to discuss bringing an end to the war in Ukraine - but those talks have since been put on ice
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's meeting in Hungary has been cancelled, which has sparked even more World War 3 fears.
Planned discussions to end the war in Ukraine were put on hold between the two leaders. They had been due to be held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, although a date was not set.
The decision to put the meeting on ice was made following a call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday it appeared there was no urgency for the pair to meet and that "preparation is needed, serious preparation".
The brakes being put on the meeting is yet another instance of failed efforts by Trump to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, which he previously claimed could be solved in a single day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders previously accused Putin of stalling for time to continue his invasion as diplomatic efforts took place.
Zelensky noted Putin only returned to diplomacy and called Trump last week when he faced the possibility the US would supply Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. In a Tuesday Telegram post, he said: "We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace."
It comes after Trump last month appeared to reverse his long-held position that Ukraine would need to conceded land in order to bring an end to the war. But following a call with Putin, he appeared to shift his position once again and called on both Russia and Kyiv to "stop where they are."
Both Ukrainian and European leaders are trying to keep Trump on side. "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," the statement said.
More international economic sanctions on Russia are likely to be discussed at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.