🔗 Share this article

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

This past week the US president said he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was not "necessary".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders claiming Trump had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on this week the American president supported a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the war on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

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

Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky stated discussions about the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

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

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he added.