The Kremlin said Wednesday that preparations for a presidential summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are surrounded by “mostly incorrect” media reports despite the U.S. leader's announcement that it had been shelved.
“It’s understandable that all of it is surrounded by a great deal of gossip and speculation. Most of it fundamentally doesn’t correspond to reality,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov reiterated his own remarks from earlier this week saying there is no precise timeframe for when Putin and Trump could meet to discuss the war in Ukraine.
“It takes time,” he told reporters.
Trump announced last week he planned to meet Putin for a second round of talks in Budapest but then on Tuesday called off the plan, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting.
When asked about Trump's comments, Peskov on Wednesday told reporters: “No one wants to waste time, neither President Trump nor President Putin.”
Reuters, citing three sources, reported that Russia informally communicated to the United States over the weekend that its terms for ending the war in Ukraine have not changed.
Peskov said in response to the report that Moscow has repeatedly outlined its position in public.
Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Russia's refusal to agree to a ceasefire in the nearly four-year Ukraine war, having so far failed to convince Putin to back down on his maximalist demands.
The U.S. leader met Putin at a summit in Alaska in August but the meeting failed to yield any sort of peace deal.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said preparations were continuing despite Trump’s claims that the high-level meeting was shelved.
“We are saying that preparations for a summit are continuing,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency TASS without elaborating.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister were to hold a pre-meeting, which CNN reported was put on hold and the Financial Times said could take place in Budapest on Oct. 30.
AFP contributed reporting.
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