🔗 Share this article

There are "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has announced.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion 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 "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders claiming Trump had urged him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.

However, on this week Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the war on the existing battle lines.

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

Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, indicating that halting hostilities would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky said discussions about the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.

He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he remarked.