🔗 Share this article

There are "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has announced.

Recently Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders indicating the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on this week the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he remarked.

Russia has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that include the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently preceded speculation that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he commented.