Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested
There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.
Recently the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The White House declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming the president had pushed him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.
However, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the present positions.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he stated.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the current line of contact.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause.
Diplomatic Positions
The "root causes" of the war required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
Weapons Discussions
Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently occurred before reports that the United States was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he added.