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There are "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

This past week Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

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

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources suggesting the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on this week Trump embraced a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.

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

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, implying that halting hostilities would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Political Perspectives

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

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

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader recently occurred before rumors that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.