(MENAFN) US President Donald Trump said on Friday that there remains “always a chance” for a future meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite the cancellation of a planned summit in Budapest last month.

"There is always a chance," Trump told reporters while hosting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House.

Later, in remarks made from the Cabinet Room, Trump explained that the meeting did not take place because, in his words, the Russians “don't want to stop yet.” He added, “I think they will. I think that's it's taken a big toll on Russia, big toll on both countries, obviously, but it's taken a big toll.”

When asked if Budapest would remain the preferred location for a potential future meeting with Putin, Trump said he would like to keep that option open. “I'd like to keep it in Hungary, in Budapest. That meeting, it turned out I didn't want to do that meeting because I didn't think anything was going to be happening of significance. But if we have it, I'd like to do it in Budapest, yeah, it'd be good,” he said.

Trump and Putin last met in Alaska on August 15, where they agreed in principle to hold another round of talks in Budapest following discussions between their respective diplomatic teams.

However, the plan was scrapped after a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov failed to produce progress on the agenda.

According to Russian officials, the necessary groundwork for a presidential meeting has yet to be established. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said during a session in the State Duma that "any summit meeting requires in-depth preparation and careful consideration of all aspects. As of today, neither the first nor the second condition for organizing this meeting has been met."

He added that while diplomatic channels remain open, the current focus is on refining the framework set by both leaders during their August discussions in Alaska.

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