Plans for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Proposed

There are "no plans" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has declared.

This past week the US president stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The administration declined to provide additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting Trump had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.

Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – 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 "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.

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

Military Considerations

Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded reports that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.