Trump cancels meeting with Putin, says 'It just didn't feel right to me'

Washington, Oct 23 (IANS) 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.

The US Treasury Department targeted Russian companies -- Rosneft and Lukoil, and their subsidiaries, warning that a future action could not be ruled out.

While meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House, Trump said he hoped that the "war will be settled".

"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," he added.

Trump also noted his previous conversations with Russian President Putin had not led to any breakthroughs.

"Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don't go anywhere. They just don't go anywhere. He's fighting a war. He's in 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," he emphasised.

The decision was taken to cancel the meeting after a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.

Last week, Trump held a two-and-a-half-hour-long phone call with the Russian President and said "great progress" was made in the conversation.

A day after the call, Trump hosted his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, at the White House, calling his meeting "very interesting and cordial".

"The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!," the US President wrote on Truth Social.

Trump also suggested that both leaders should "stop where they are" and "claim victory".

After mediating a ceasefire in Gaza, Trump has shifted his attention to the Russia-Ukraine war and has stepped up efforts to end the conflict.

Trump's highly publicised summit with Putin in Alaska in August ended without an agreement.

--IANS

int/scor/khz