🔗 Share this article

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

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The administration did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Earlier Events

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 Oval Office.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating 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 endorsed a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

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

Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of comprehensive conditions that include the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky said conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.

Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.