Mats Larsson

Well, there is of course one exception. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was certainly looking forward to hosting the meeting that was to take place in two weeks.

That's how it was. Donald Trump expressed it after his more than two-hour conversation with the Russian president last Thursday.

Less than three months after the two met in Alaska, another meeting would take place, this time in the Hungarian capital.

Some details were to be worked out first between the US and Russia, but they do not appear to have progressed much when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone on Monday.

The two were supposed to meet in person, but according to the British Daily Telegraph, no such meeting is now planned. It is Moscow that is said to have canceled the plans.

The Russians are reported to continue to refuse to accept a solution where the current front line forms the basis for peace talks. Ukraine still holds about 25 percent of the Donetsk region and Vladimir Putin wants to seize the entire area.

That was also the message that Donald Trump conveyed to Volodymyr Zelenskyj at their meeting in Washington on Friday, the day after Trump and Putin spoke on the phone.

According to the Financial Times, Trump urged Ukraine to agree to Russian demands for a ceasefire, and is reported to have both sworn and thrown maps in the air.

But Zelenskyy did not give in. Trump then changed his mind again and after the meeting said that the current front line should form the basis for the talks.

Something that the Russians do not seem prepared to agree to. Just like in Alaska before.

So for now, it doesn't look like there will be a summit in Budapest anytime soon. There are"no plans" for Trump to meet Putin "in the near future," a White House statement said.

That's not to say that a meeting won't happen. As you know, things can change quickly when Trump is involved.

One thing is certain. There was a sigh of relief in many European capitals when the announcement came from the White House on Tuesday evening.

The announcement last week that Trump intended to meet Putin in Viktor Orbán's Budapest did not cause any cheers in Europe. Orbán is the EU's black sheep and the European leader with the worst relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“Nobody likes this,” an EU diplomat told the Financial Times about the planned meeting in Budapest.

– We are all gritting our teeth, while saying it's okay.

Zelensky also said on Sunday that"Budapest is not the best place for such a meeting" and pointed to several alternatives, from Switzerland to Saudi Arabia.

The meeting at the White House on Friday between Zelensky and Trump has also once again raised concerns in Europe that Trump once again seems to be buying the Russian arguments.

According to the Financial Times, Trump at one point even used Putin's description of the war in Ukraine as a"special operation." A choice of words that doesn't exactly calm European nerves.

The days were at their darkest for Europe in February and March when Donald Trump berated Zelensky in the White House and openly appeared to side with Putin in the conflict.

But Trump's frustration with Putin has grown over the summer and fall, as Russia continued its airstrikes on Ukrainian cities and pressed on at the front.

Trump even said in September that Ukraine could win the war. Zelenskyy hoped to receive American Tomahawk cruise missiles at the meeting on Friday.

Instead, he was met with Trump's swearing and memories of February came back to life. However, those fears seem to have been dispelled for the time being.