US President Donald Trump’s plans for a second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin may be slipping away, CNN reports. The network says an expected meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — meant to prepare the ground for the Trump–Putin talks in Budapest — has been delayed, clouding the White House’s hopes for fast progress toward a deal on Ukraine.
Lavrov–Rubio meeting delayed
According to CNN, the planned pre-summit meeting between Rubio and Lavrov, which Trump had announced for this week, has been “put on hold for the time being.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social last Thursday that the United States’ “initial meetings will be led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” following his phone call with Putin, in which both leaders agreed to arrange talks between their top advisers.
A White House official confirmed to CNN that the meeting would no longer take place this week but did not explain why. A source familiar with the matter told the outlet that Rubio and Lavrov had diverging expectations on how to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a key point ahead of the Trump–Putin summit.
The delay, CNN notes, directly affects preparations for the Trump–Putin summit expected to be held in Budapest, Hungary. Without progress between the two foreign policy chiefs, it is unclear when or whether the leaders’ meeting will go ahead.
Washington and Moscow struggle to align visions
On 20 October, Rubio and Lavrov held a phone call to follow up on last week’s Trump–Putin conversation. The US State Department said Rubio “emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia–Ukraine war, in line with President Trump’s vision.”
The Kremlin, for its part, described the call as a “constructive discussion” focused on “possible concrete steps to implement the understandings” reached by Trump and Putin. Yet CNN cites a source familiar with the talks as saying that Russia’s stance remains rigid and “maximalist,” showing little sign of change.
"For now, the source said, Rubio is not likely to recommend the Putin-Trump meeting move forward next week, but Rubio and Lavrov could speak again this week," CNN wrote.
Trump and Putin last met on 15 August 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska, for nearly three hours, leaving without an agreement but describing the talks as “progress.”
