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

Recently the US president stated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The White House withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar claiming the president had pressured him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the war on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he remarked.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, implying that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of extensive requirements that include the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.