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Currently exist "no preparations" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday the US president said he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was not "needed".

The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had pressured him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated.

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

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of extensive requirements that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently occurred before rumors that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.