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Currently exist "no plans" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting the president had pushed him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan supported by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the conflict on the existing battle lines.

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

Moscow has frequently resisted against pausing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky said talks regarding the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently preceded speculation that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.