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There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.

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

The administration withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had pushed him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on Monday Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the war on the current front line.

"Leave it as is the way it is," he said.

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, implying that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky said talks regarding the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday came ahead of reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.