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There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.

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

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources indicating Trump had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Yet, on Monday Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the war on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that involve 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 EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president said discussions about the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday occurred before speculation that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.