Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The White House withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.

However, on Monday Trump supported a truce plan backed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the current front line.

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

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the sole subject that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday preceded speculation that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.