Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Days After Budapest Negotiations Suggested
There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.
Recently Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The White House did not share further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources claiming the president had urged him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.
However, on this week Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the conflict on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.
Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.
Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike deep into Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.