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There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.

Recently Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to address the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The administration declined to provide any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders indicating the president had pressured him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

However, on this week the American president embraced a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.

Russia has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky said conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday preceded speculation that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.