🔗 Share this article

There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.

This past week Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to address the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "necessary".

The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting Trump had urged him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.

Yet, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative supported by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the war on the present positions.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he stated.

Russia has frequently resisted against pausing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump recently preceded reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.