🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no plans" for American leader President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

This past week Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a meeting was not "required".

The White House withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar suggesting the president had pushed him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on this week the American president embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the war on the current front line.

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

Russia has frequently resisted against pausing the current line of contact.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the war required resolution, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader recently occurred before reports that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in international relations", he added.