Trump cancels meeting with Putin

Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that he has cancelled his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts.  “We cancelled the meeting with President Putin,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the White House. “It just didn’t feel right to me.” “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 added. He said last week that he will meet with Putin in Hungary’s Budapest for talks, following a phone conversation between the two leaders.

On Tuesday, however, he told reporters at the White House that such a meeting would be “a waste of time”. Trump also expressed frustration with the stalled negotiations. “In terms of honesty, the only thing I can say is, every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” he said.

The summit cancellation came as the White House unveiled new sanctions targeting Russian oil exports, part of a broader effort to pressure Moscow over its continued military operations in Ukraine. Trump said he hoped the measures would be temporary. For the first time in his second term, Trump has imposed new sanctions on Russia, targeting its two largest oil companies, in his latest bid to end the conflict in Ukraine. (IANS)

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