Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Days Following Budapest Talks Suggested

There are "no plans" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" 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 postponed.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders claiming the president had pressured him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the conflict on the current front line.

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

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

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

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader recently occurred before rumors that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he added.