🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating Trump had pressured him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

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

"Leave it as is where it stands," he remarked.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors 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 missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.