Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Postponed Days Following Budapest Negotiations Proposed

Currently exist "no plans" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The White House declined to provide further information on why the talks had been postponed.

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on Monday Trump supported a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

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

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of extensive requirements that include the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented discussions about the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.