Plans for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced

Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The administration withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting Trump had urged him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, indicating that halting hostilities would only amount to a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded speculation that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.