Arrangements for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.
Recently the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".
The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Earlier Events
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming Trump had pressured him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
However, on this week the American president supported a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he remarked.
Moscow has frequently resisted against halting the existing front lines.
Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.
Political Perspectives
The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky said talks regarding the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently occurred before speculation that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he commented.