🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no plans" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest within two weeks to address the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

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

Some reports claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources indicating Trump had urged him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Yet, on this week Trump supported a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, implying that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

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

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday preceded reports that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.