On October 21, Russian President's press secretary Peskov responded to Western media reports about the postponement of the Russia-US foreign ministers' meeting, stating that he did not have specific information and suggested consulting the Russian Foreign Ministry.

This is clearly a deflection. Peskov's subsequent statement seems to support the possibility of changes in the "Trump-Putin" meeting in Budapest:

1. Peskov said that since the Russian and US presidents have not finalized the specific date for the meeting, the final time for the talks is still unclear, and organizing this meeting requires sufficient preparation - implying that it may be a while yet, completely ruling out the possibility of the meeting on October 24 as previously reported by the media.

2. Peskov confirmed that as part of the preparatory process for the "Trump-Putin" meeting, the foreign ministers of the two countries, Lavrov and Rubio, should hold meetings. According to the current information available, the date and location of the foreign ministers' meeting have not been determined, and the presidential meeting is also far off.

3. Peskov accused EU countries of not promoting the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, but instead encouraging the Kyiv regime to continue military operations.

Today, after concluding his meeting with the Ethiopian foreign minister, the Russian foreign minister made a statement regarding the Russia-US summit. He revealed that he had spoken to US Secretary of State Rubio yesterday, and both sides confirmed they would advance and implement the consensus and intentions agreed upon during the Alaska summit and subsequent phone calls between the two heads of state.

Lavrov added specifically that in preparing for future Russia-US summits, the key is not the location and time of the meeting, but rather the substantive progress of tasks determined at the previous Alaska summit.

"It is clear that the focus now is not on the location - although, in this case, the location certainly has its significance. One must consider the kind of public outcry that has been raised by those who do not see the EU as a union of sovereign states, but who wish all issues to be decided by the Brussels bureaucracy. The most important thing is not the location or the time, but how we can make substantial progress on the issues that have already been widely agreed upon at the Anchorage summit."

From Lavrov's remarks, it appears that the choice of Hungary's capital, a European Union country, for the "Trump-Putin" meeting has faced significant criticism and resistance, which may have been unexpected for Trump and the American side. It is possible that the "Trump-Putin" meeting will be relocated in the future, possibly to a less sensitive third country, such as a country in the Middle East or Southeast Asia.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563624526114865700/

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