Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested

Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The administration declined to provide any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming the president had urged him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Yet, on this week Trump supported a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the conflict on the present positions.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he said.

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

Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

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

Military Considerations

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.