Russian Foreign Minister Segey Lavrov, in addressing the Western media storm trying to blow up the Budapest Trump-Putin summit, provided a careful review on Oct. 21 of what U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to at their Alaska summit on Aug. 15 and reconfirmed in the 2.5-hour call on Oct. 16. Asked about the progress for the Budapest summit, Lavrov replied:
“Yesterday [Oct. 20], I engaged in a comprehensive discussion with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in line with the agreement reached by the Presidents of Russia and the United States on Oct. 16 during their telephone conversation. We reaffirmed our steadfast commitment to proceed in accordance with the understandings and agreements reached between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump—primarily in Alaska—as well as during their subsequent telephone exchanges.
“With Secretary Rubio, we ... explored how to finalize the broadly agreed-upon framework for another meeting, which the U.S. President proposed should be held in Budapest…. We agreed to continue these telephone consultations to better assess where we stand and determine the right way forward.
“Today, I was surprised to read a CNN report suggesting that the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump may be postponed, as U.S. officials concluded after yesterday’s call with Secretary Rubio that Russia’s position has barely shifted since the initial talks and remains wedded to its original maximalist demands.”
CNN had reported, under the headline, “Trump’s Hopes for Quick Second Summit with Putin Have Stalled Out.” that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone on Oct. 20: “Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov had a productive call. Therefore, an additional in-person meeting between the Secretary and Foreign Minister is not necessary, and there are no plans for President Trump to meet with President Putin in the immediate future,” the administration official said on Oct. 21.
