Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Suggested

There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.

This past week Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a meeting was not "necessary".

The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been postponed.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources suggesting Trump had pressured him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on this week Trump endorsed a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the war on the present positions.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.

Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of reports that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike deep into Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.