Trump cancels meeting with Putin, says ‘it just didn’t feel right to me’

In a dramatic twist in US-Russia diplomacy, President Donald Trump has cancelled his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing stalled negotiations and a lack of tangible progress in efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“We cancelled the meeting with President Putin. It just didn’t feel right to me,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I cancelled it, but we’ll do it in the future.”

Trump had initially indicated that the meeting would take place in Budapest, Hungary, following a recent phone call with Putin. Yet, just days later, he described such a summit as potentially “a waste of time,” reflecting his growing frustration over the stalled dialogue.

“Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” he lamented. “He’s fighting a war. It’s two very competent sides, and that’s the way war is. You never know with war, but I would say that it’s time to make a deal.”

The summit cancellation comes amid a broader escalation of US pressure on Moscow, with the White House unveiling new sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, along with their subsidiaries. The Treasury Department warned that additional actions could follow if the conflict persists.

“These are tremendous sanctions. These are very big against their two big oil companies. And we hope that they won’t be on for long. We hope that the war will be settled,” Trump said during a meeting with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte.

This marks the first time in his second term that Trump has imposed such sweeping measures against Russian energy exports, reflecting his renewed focus on bringing the Ukraine war to a close.

Only last week, Trump held a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Putin, describing the conversation as one where “great progress” was made. Yet, within days, he pivoted to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, calling their meeting “very interesting and cordial”.

“I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing — and make a DEAL!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.“Both leaders should stop where they are and claim victory.”

Having recently mediated a ceasefire in Gaza, Trump has turned his attention decisively to Ukraine, balancing sanctions with diplomacy in a bid to pressure both Moscow and Kyiv toward an agreement.

Trump’s earlier high-profile summit with Putin in Alaska in August ended without an accord, underscoring the enduring challenges of negotiating peace amid a bloody and protracted war. Now, with sanctions targeting Russia’s economic lifelines and the possibility of future talks still alive, the US president appears determined to blend leverage and dialogue in his quest to end one of the world’s most volatile conflicts.

With IANS inputs