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There are "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.

This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The administration did not share additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting the president had urged him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan backed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.

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

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the war required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a series of extensive requirements that include the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday preceded rumors that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike Russian territory.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he remarked.