Plans for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Days Following Budapest Talks Proposed

There are "no plans" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

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

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".

The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating Trump had pushed him to cede extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on this week Trump endorsed a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the present positions.

"Let it be cut the way it is," he said.

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

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.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that include the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

Zelensky said discussions about the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently preceded reports that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.