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Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

Recently Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "needed".

The administration did not share additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating Trump had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on this week Trump embraced a truce plan supported by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the war on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he remarked.

Moscow has frequently resisted against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on Tuesday, implying that pausing conflict would merely represent a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the battle positions 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 delivery of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday preceded reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.