🔗 Share this article

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.

Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

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

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting Trump had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on Monday the American president supported a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the current front line.

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

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, indicating that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.