Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Shortly After Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital soon to address the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration declined to provide any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources claiming the president had pushed him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president supported a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the current front line.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he said.

Russia has frequently resisted against pausing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently came ahead of reports that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in negotiations", he commented.