Regarding a U.S.-Russia summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin that is being pushed to be held in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump said he does not want to waste time.
On the 21st (local time), at a White House event celebrating Diwali, the biggest Hindu festival, President Trump, responding to a reporter's question asking whether the meeting with Putin had been canceled, said he does not want to have a pointless meeting and added that he has not yet made a decision.
Earlier, on the 16th, President Trump spoke with President Putin by currency and promised to hold a U.S.-Russia summit, and Trump suggested the meeting would take place within two weeks. However, with differences over ways to end the war continuing, there is speculation that the meeting itself has been postponed or canceled. A meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers also was postponed this week.
President Trump said you never know what will happen, that a lot is happening on the front lines between Ukraine and Russia, and that he will let people know within the next two days what they will do.
However, when asked whether he sees an opportunity to end the war, he said yes, that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also want to end it, and that he thinks the war will end.
Meanwhile, President Trump also commented on the partial federal government shutdown, which has continued for 21 days as of that day. Asked whether he would meet with the opposition Democratic leadership to end the situation, he said there is one condition, reopening the government, and that he would meet them as soon as they end the shutdown. He said he wants to meet them.