Arrangements for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Days After Budapest Negotiations Suggested
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.
Recently the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest soon to address the ongoing hostilities.
A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".
The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Earlier Events
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources suggesting the president had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
However, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan supported by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the conflict on the present positions.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he remarked.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.