Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed

There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

Recently Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Previous Developments

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

Various sources suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump supported a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the present positions.

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

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, implying that halting hostilities would only amount to a short-term truce.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

Zelensky stated discussions about the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he commented.