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Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.

Recently the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".

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

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had pressured him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

However, on this week Trump endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he said.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the current line of contact.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.

Political Perspectives

The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of comprehensive conditions that include the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky said conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory.

Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he commented.