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Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

This past week Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration said the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".

The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming the president had pushed him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.

However, on Monday the American president endorsed a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the present positions.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he remarked.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

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

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

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.