🔗 Share this article

There are "no preparations" 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 Russian president would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The White House withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming Trump had pushed him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on this week the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the conflict on the current front line.

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

Moscow has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday preceded speculation that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.