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There are "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

Recently the US president stated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest soon to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting Trump had pushed him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Yet, on this week the American president embraced a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the war on the existing battle lines.

"Let it be cut where it stands," he said.

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

The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

Zelensky stated 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 "significant input" in diplomacy", he remarked.