Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Announced

There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.

Recently Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The administration withheld any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating the president had urged him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to pause the war on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the current line of contact.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of maximalist demands that include the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president said discussions about the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday preceded rumors that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he commented.