🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

This past week Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest soon to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating the president had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.

However, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the war on the present positions.

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

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

Zelensky stated discussions about the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he remarked.