Overview
- Sergey Lavrov said Moscow remains ready for a second summit in Budapest that builds on August’s Alaska outcomes, with contacts ongoing but no date set.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both sides agree a leaders’ meeting should occur only if it can produce a concrete result on the Ukraine conflict.
- Plans for a Budapest meeting were postponed after Washington and Moscow failed to align on what would constitute a meaningful settlement outcome.
- Lavrov rejected a Financial Times report tying the postponement to a Russian memo, and TASS said Corriere della Sera declined to publish his interview that TASS is citing.
- Trump announced on October 16 that he and Vladimir Putin agreed to meet in Budapest, following their earlier August meeting in Anchorage that set a negotiating baseline.