Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Delayed Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed

There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

Recently Trump stated he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House did not share further information on why the talks had been postponed.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting Trump had pressured him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

However, on this week the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the present positions.

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

Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the current line of contact.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the conflict required resolution, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.