Russia Remains Open To Contact With US After The Cancellation Of The Putin-Trump Meeting

Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova. (Source: Russian Foreign Ministry)

JAKARTA - Moscow said it remained open to continuing contact with Washington, responding to a statement "there are no plans" for Russia's President to meet with the President of the United States.

Speaking at a press conference in Moscow Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the purpose of Russia-US contacts was to establish further parameters of their dialogue on various aspects of bilateral relations and joint steps towards Ukraine's completion.

"We assume that Washington will continue to share its considerations and motives regarding the steps that have been taken, including those that have been published," he said.

Russia's position on the Ukraine conflict remains unchanged, he said, including ensuring reliable, non-block, and Ukraine's nuclear-free status, demilitarization and "denazification", developing strong guarantees of rights and freedoms for Russian-speaking citizens, as well as activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that are barrier-free.

"This is the starting point in our dialogue with the United States and other interested countries that are trying to make a constructive contribution to this settlement," he stressed.

Zakharova said the Russian side saw no significant obstacle to continuing the process initiated by the Presidents of Russia and the US aimed at aligning the political framework to resolve the Ukraine crisis and making it happen with concrete results.

"Yes, this is indeed a difficult and tiring job, but it must be done through diplomatic efforts and instruments, not leaks or provocations," he said.

Earlier, President Trump on Wednesday said he had canceled plans for a summit with President Putin citing a lack of progress in diplomatic efforts and an impression of inappropriate time.

"We canceled the meeting with President Putin, it doesn't feel right for me," President Trump told reporters at the White House.

"I don't think we will achieve the goal we should. So I cancel it, but we will do it in the future," he said.

Initially, the two leaders were planned to hold a meeting in the not too distant future. This was revealed by President Trump after speaking by telephone with President Putin for about two hours last Thursday.

The meeting was supposed to be held in Budapest, Hungary, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban saying his readiness to host.