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Currently exist "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has declared.

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

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been put on hold.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting the president had urged him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on this week Trump supported a truce plan backed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the war on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.

Moscow has frequently resisted against pausing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, implying that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that include the recognition of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.