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There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has announced.

This past week Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".

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

Background Context

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar indicating the president had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

Nevertheless, on this week Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

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

Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

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

He further commented the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in international relations", he added.