Trump cancels Putin meeting, signals new sanctions
Illustrative photo: Trump and Putin meeting (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump has canceled his meeting with Vladimir Putin, saying that "the long-awaited time" for sanctions against Russia has come.
The statement was made during Trump’s conversation with reporters at the White House.
"We canceled the meeting with President Putin - it just didn’t feel right to me. It didn’t seem like we were going to get where we needed to go, so I canceled it. But we’ll do it in the future," Trump said, with no additional details.
"Every time I have good talks with Putin, they end up going nowhere," Trump said.
Trump once again emphasized that he hopes both Zelenskyy and Putin will act with reason.
"You know what they say - it takes two to tango. And we’ll find out," he remarked.
The US president also commented on sanctions against Russia, saying, "I felt the time had come - we’ve been waiting a long time."
When Trump–Putin meeting was being prepared
A day earlier, Trump said he had not yet decided whether to meet with Vladimir Putin but promised to announce his plans within two days.
The US president stressed he did not want to hold a pointless meeting.
"I don’t want to waste time, so we’ll see what happens," he said.
On Thursday, October 16, Trump had a phone conversation with Putin, after which he announced plans for a new summit, this time to be held in Budapest, within the next two weeks.
However, several days later, Western media reported that the meeting had been postponed indefinitely. The exact reason remains unclear, but according to a CNN source, the delay is linked to Russia’s insufficient shift from its hardline position on ending the war in Ukraine. Postponing the lower-level talks has consequently pushed back the planned Trump–Putin summit.
