Russia said Wednesday that preparation for a presidential summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump was still ongoing, despite the US leader’s announcement that it had been shelved.
Trump has become increasingly frustrated with Russia’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire in the nearly four-year Ukraine war, having so far failed to convince Putin to back down on his maximalist demands.
The US leader met Putin at a summit in Alaska in August but the meeting failed to yield any sort of peace deal.
Trump announced last week he planned to meet Putin for a second round of talks in Budapest but then on Tuesday called off the plan, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting.
When asked about Trump’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “No one wants to waste time, neither President Trump nor President Putin.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said preparations were continuing.
“We are saying that preparations for a summit are continuing,” he was quoted as saying by the state TASS news agency, without elaborating.
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