Trump says he canceled Putin summit due to stalled negotiations

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Alaska, U.S., 15 August, 2025
Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he had called off a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing a lack of diplomatic progress and saying that “the timing wasn’t right.”

“We’ve cancelled the meeting with President Putin — it just didn’t feel right to me,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It didn’t feel like we were going to reach the point we needed to, so I cancelled it. But we’ll hold it at a later date.”

Trump voiced frustration at the stalled talks, saying, “To be honest, every time I speak with Vladimir, we have good conversations, but they don’t lead anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere.”

The decision came as the White House introduced new sanctions against Russian oil exports, part of a wider strategy to increase pressure on Moscow over its ongoing military campaign in Ukraine. Trump added that he hoped the measures would only be temporary.

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