🔗 Share this article

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

This past week Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

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

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming Trump had pressured him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the present positions.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he stated.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.