The highly anticipated Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest was suddenly canceled. After the news broke, the global political arena was in an uproar. This high-level contact, seen as possibly "ending the Ukraine war," ended abruptly after a phone call that went awry.
According to U.S. media reports, the atmosphere during the phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took a sharp turn for the worse last weekend.
Lavrov made a firm statement during the call, saying, "Russia will not accept a freeze of the current front lines," meaning it would not accept ceasefire negotiations based on the current frontline. This statement almost instantly put an end to Trump's "peace summit plan."
A senior White House official stated, "In the current situation, a face-to-face meeting between President Trump and President Putin is no longer necessary and there are no recent arrangements." Although the official emphasized that the phone call was "constructive," in reality, the new round of U.S.-Russia diplomatic efforts had ended in failure.
The Stalemate of "Freezing the Front Line": Trump's Peace Dream and Moscow's Bottom Line
The planned U.S.-Russia summit in Budapest was seen as the biggest diplomatic test for Trump since his return to power. He hoped to end the four-year-long Ukraine-Russia war with the image of a "deal maker."
But this cancellation once again confirmed the general skepticism: Trump wants a "quick peace," but Putin wants a "political victory."
Russian insistence on "freezing the front line" means acknowledging the existence of occupied areas; while the U.S. fears this could lead Ukraine to permanently lose territory and give Moscow a foothold to launch another offensive. In the absence of a resolution to the differences, so-called "peace talks" seem more like a show of diplomacy with each side having its own agenda.
The Washington Post commented that this cancellation marked "Trump's personal style of diplomacy hitting a steel wall in reality." To Trump, "negotiations" are an art of deals; to Putin, "negotiations" are a continuation of power.
Zelensky: Putin is Stalling, Only Pressure Can Bring Peace
Ukrainian President Zelensky quickly spoke out, condemning Putin for "repeating the same tricks." He wrote on Telegram: "When external pressure increases, Russia will talk about peace; when pressure eases, they start stalling."
Zelensky's words almost reveal the recurring script of international diplomacy over the past year—every time there was hope for a breakthrough in negotiations, there would be a new offensive on the battlefield.
He called on allies not to let up, saying, "Only continuous pressure can bring peace." At the same time, eight European leaders and EU officials jointly issued a statement reaffirming that "international borders cannot be changed by force" and announced plans to use billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets overseas to aid Ukraine's reconstruction and defense.
This move, although controversial on a legal level, sends a strong political signal to Putin—that Europe will not accept the "Trump proposal" of territorial concessions for peace.
Trump's Shifting Position: From "Territorial Cessions" to "Holding the Line"
More complex is Trump's change of heart. He had openly stated that Ukraine "must cede territory to gain peace"; but last month he suddenly changed his stance, saying Ukraine "has a chance to regain all lost territories." However, after calling Putin and meeting with Zelensky, he adjusted his position again, saying, "Both sides should cease fire at the current front lines and start negotiations from there."
Three days later, in an interview, he proposed that the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine could be "split," with most of it going to Russia. This statement quickly sparked dissatisfaction from Ukraine and Europe.
The Zelensky camp is concerned that if Trump pushes for a "freezing the front line," it would be equivalent to giving away one-fifth of Ukraine's territory without a fight.
European countries are also wary, fearing that such a "quick fix" would allow Russia to retain military bases, which could become a launching point for a new invasion in the future.
Europe and the United States' Diplomatic Rhythm: Unrest Within the Alliance
After the cancellation of the Budapest meeting, Europe quickly took over the diplomatic rhythm. The EU will discuss a new round of sanctions against Russia at this week's Brussels summit, focusing on energy exports and the defense industry supply chain.
European leaders said in a joint statement, "We must increase economic pressure on Russia until Putin is ready to truly negotiate for peace."
On Friday, the "Coalition of the Willing"—a coalition of 35 countries supporting Ukraine—
will hold a meeting in London to coordinate aid funding and military plans for Ukraine.
This series of actions sends a clear signal: Trump's "peace path" is being quietly sidelined by European allies. Regardless of whether he is willing to continue playing the role of "mediator," the real momentum of the war has returned to Kyiv and Brussels.
The Cancellation of Budapest: Not Just a Diplomatic Setback
The cancellation of the meeting between Trump and Putin is not just a pause in a diplomatic event, but also reveals the complexity of the psychological warfare in the Ukraine war.
Trump wants to solve the war using a transactional logic—quick, decent, and easily packaged by the media;
Putin wants strategic achievements—territory, influence, and Western concessions;
Zelensky and Europe want to persist—through sustained pressure and sanctions, to obtain genuine peace.
The political languages of the three sides intertwine into a high-intensity diplomatic tug-of-war: no winner, and no real "middle road."
Behind the cancellation of Budapest, the world once again sees the repetition of an old issue—when peace is defined by different camps, the real war will never stop.
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