The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Moscow is open to dialogue with American partners regarding the preparation of the summit. “We are ready to discuss the resumption of preparatory work for the summit they proposed,” Lavrov added in an interview with Russian publications.
According to him, Budapest could be a preferred location for the meeting of the two leaders if the USA resumes its proposal and shows readiness to organize a meeting that should yield results.
Lavrov also noted that Donald Trump confirmed Budapest as a preferred location for such a meeting during his meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
He denied rumors that the meeting of the presidents was canceled after Washington received a “memorandum on Ukraine” from Moscow and had a tense conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The minister explained that the memorandum in non-paper format was handed over to the American side before the phone conversation between Putin and Trump on October 16.
“This non-paper is an optional draft that was sent to our colleagues not after the conversation, but a few days before it. The purpose of this document was to remind what was discussed in Anchorage and what understandings we reached,” Lavrov clarified.
He also emphasized that during the phone conversation, Trump did not mention the provocative document. “We had a constructive conversation, after which we expected further steps from the American side,” he added.
Lavrov recounted that three days after the conversation, Rubio called him, and they discussed further steps. “We confirmed intentions based on the understandings reached, but no proposal for a meeting came from the Americans, even though they were the ones who initiated the preparation of the summit,” the minister explained.
On October 16, a phone conversation took place between Putin and Trump, after which the American president announced the possibility of a personal meeting in Budapest. However, he soon canceled the summit, explaining that he saw no point in negotiations, as it would not be possible to achieve the necessary result.
