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There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting the president had urged him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on this week the American president endorsed a peace initiative supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.

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

Russia has frequently resisted against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a short-term truce.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky commented conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently preceded rumors that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory.

Zelensky said it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he commented.