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Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

This past week Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was not "required".

The White House declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting Trump had pressured him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on this week Trump embraced a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

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

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

The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

Zelensky stated discussions about the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.