🔗 Share this article

There are "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".

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

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Let it be cut where it stands," he said.

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a series of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky stated conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.