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There are "no preparations" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" call and that a meeting was not "required".

The White House declined to provide additional specifics on why the talks had been postponed.

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting Trump had pushed him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

Yet, on this week the American president supported a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the war on the present positions.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he said.

Moscow has consistently objected against halting the existing front lines.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he commented.