Arrangements for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Proposed

There are "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.

Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

The White House withheld any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting Trump had pushed him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on Monday the American president supported a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the war on the current front line.

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

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

The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky commented discussions about the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.