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Currently exist "no preparations" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.

Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The White House did not share additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold.

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming Trump had pressured him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on Monday the American president supported a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the present positions.

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

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

The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of extensive requirements that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently preceded reports that the US was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.