Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Suggested

There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.

This past week the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to address the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Earlier Events

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had pressured him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

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

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.

Moscow was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky said talks regarding the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.