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

This past week Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest soon to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been delayed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting Trump had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on Monday the American president supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the war on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is the way it is," he stated.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would only amount to a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky said talks regarding the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.