Trump's four-world message to Putin as peace summit canceled at last minute

During a White House Diwali celebration, former President Donald Trump surprised reporters by calling his upcoming peace summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin “a waste of time.”

Trump had previously announced the meeting planned to take place in Budapest, Hungary as part of his effort to mediate between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, he now claims it’s not worth pursuing.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “Everybody take some time off because you’ve got two countries that are killing each other.” He emphasized that the Russia–Ukraine conflict “doesn’t affect us,” arguing that the United States is not directly involved since it only supplies weapons through NATO.

“It’s not our war. We’re not losing soldiers there,” Trump said, adding that President Biden had already spent $350 billion supporting Ukraine.

The former president went on to insist that if he were still in office, “the war would have never happened.” Trump also suggested that both Putin and Zelenskyy “want it to end” and expressed hope that peace might still be possible.

The planned Budapest summit has now been postponed following a phone call between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Officials indicated that the decision came after concerns that such a meeting could undermine Europe’s united stance against Moscow.

European leaders including those of Britain, France, and Germany have strongly opposed any peace deal that forces Ukraine to surrender territory captured by Russia, something Trump has occasionally hinted at.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has shown little urgency about scheduling a new date. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that “serious preparation” would be required before any potential meeting.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, has continued urging the U.S. to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles, arguing that pressure is the only path to peace. “We need to end this war, and only pressure will lead to peace,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.