🔗 Share this article

There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.

Last Thursday the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the Ukraine conflict.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

The administration declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar indicating Trump had pushed him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.

Russia has frequently resisted against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of extensive requirements that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday preceded rumors that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he remarked.