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There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".

The administration withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting the president had pushed him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the war on the present positions.

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

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of rumors that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.