A planned meeting between Rubio and Lavrov this week has been postponed, CNN reports. “You cannot postpone what has not been agreed upon” - Russian Foreign Ministry

The meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, planned for the week of October 20–26, was postponed, CNN reported on Tuesday night, citing sources. The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by saying that “it is impossible to postpone something that has not been agreed upon.”

It is unclear what caused the meeting to be postponed, the TV channel notes. One of CNN’s interlocutors emphasized that Lavrov and Rubio have different views on scenarios for ending the war in Ukraine.

As Reuters previously wrote, the meeting was supposed to take place on Thursday, October 23. On Monday, October 20, Rubio and Lavrov spoke by phone. In a short press release, the US State Department noted that the American and Russian sides “discussed further steps after the telephone conversation” between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on October 16.

“The Secretary of State emphasized the importance of the upcoming meetings as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to cooperate in advancing a long-term resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in accordance with President Trump’s vision,” the message said.

It is not yet clear whether the postponement of the meeting between Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov will affect the expected Putin-Trump summit in Budapest. According to one of CNN's sources, after a telephone conversation between Lavrov and Rubio, the American side decided that Russia “has not advanced enough” relative to its previously voiced maximalist demands.

At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that specific dates for the meeting between Rubio and Lavrov had not yet been outlined.

“You cannot postpone something that has not been agreed upon. We did not confirm what some Western sources wrote yesterday. We had no close understanding of the timing and place of such contact. As an idea, this exists, of course, all this is of significant importance,” Interfax agency quotes Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

A telephone conversation between the Russian and American presidents took place on October 16. After this, Trump announced a personal meeting with Putin in Budapest. As The Washington Post wrote , Putin, in a conversation with Trump, announced his readiness to give up the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in exchange for full control over Donetsk.