🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.

Recently Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

The administration declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to cede large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on this week the American president supported a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.

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

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov said on Tuesday, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently preceded rumors that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.