Trump-Putin Meeting Preparations Being Fast-tracked- CNN

Preparations for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin are being "fast-tracked," Orda reports, citing a March 3 CNN report.

This development follows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's departure from Washington without signing a planned mineral deal with the U.S.

Sources told CNN that Trump's public dispute with Zelenskyy on February 28 served as additional motivation to expedite talks on restoring U.S.-Russia relations in the coming weeks.

According to CNN, the next meeting between the Russian and American presidents may occur in one of the Persian Gulf countries.

Meanwhile, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico have actively challenged the EU's unified position on Ukraine, according to Politico.

In a letter to European Council President António Costa dated Saturday, Orbán urged the EU to engage in direct cease-fire negotiations with Russia.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Fico announced that his nation would withhold financial and military support from Kyiv and dismissed the Western "peace through strength" strategy as unrealistic.

Fico also demanded that future EU summit conclusions include requirements for Ukraine to restore Russian gas transit to Slovakia and Western Europe — effectively advocating for the resumption of European dependence on Moscow's energy exports.

These statements from Orbán and Fico emerged as Europe pushed to respond to Trump's treatment of Zelenskyy in Washington.