US President Donald Trump has announced that the planned high-level meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been called off. The decision came after Moscow declined to agree to a ceasefire along the existing front line in Ukraine.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump expressed that he did not want to engage in a “wasted meeting,” after previously indicating that the two leaders would meet in Budapest within weeks to discuss an end to the conflict.

A White House official confirmed that there are currently “no plans for a Trump-Putin meeting in the near future,” following intense diplomatic efforts which exposed growing differences between the US and Russian peace proposals.

This latest attempt was part of a broader initiative to negotiate a ceasefire that would freeze the conflict where it currently stands—an approach supported by Kyiv and European leaders but strongly rejected by the Kremlin.

Trump, who last met Putin during a brief summit in Alaska in August with no significant progress, stated that Russia’s demands had become unacceptable.

“I said: cut and stop at the battle line. Go home. Stop fighting, stop killing people,” Trump told reporters, reiterating his support for a ceasefire deal to halt fighting at the current front lines.

However, Russia has consistently opposed freezing the conflict, instead insisting on the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas region and official recognition of Russian sovereignty over the area—conditions that are unacceptable to both Ukraine and its Western allies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s position, stating that Russia seeks “long-term, sustainable peace,” not what he described as a temporary ceasefire that does not address the “root causes” of the war.

A planned preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lavrov was also canceled, although the two conducted what the White House called a “productive” phone conversation instead.

European leaders, alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned Russia’s position and stressed that any path to peace must begin by freezing the front line. Zelensky described this as the “start of diplomacy,” while accusing Moscow of avoiding genuine negotiations.

Reports indicate that a recent phone call between Trump and Putin just before Trump’s meeting with Zelensky played a key role. According to US sources, Trump had urged Ukraine to consider relinquishing parts of Donetsk and Luhansk (the Donbas) as part of a potential deal with Russia.

However, Zelensky remains steadfast: Ukraine cannot cede the territory it controls, warning that doing so would only encourage further Russian aggression.

The phone call between Trump and Putin reportedly took place amid speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, a move that may have sparked Moscow’s sudden renewed interest in diplomacy.

Zelensky later suggested that talks about these missiles were what truly captured Moscow’s attention, calling the weapons discussions a “strong investment in diplomacy,” even though he left Washington without a firm commitment on their delivery.