🔗 Share this article Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Proposed Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the American leader had indicated additional talks would take place in the Hungarian capital Currently exist "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced. Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities. A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required". The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been put on hold. Background Context The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House. Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating Trump had pushed him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow. Nevertheless, on this week Trump supported a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the present positions. "Leave it as is the way it is," he stated. Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines. Moscow was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire. Diplomatic Positions The "root causes" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners. The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue. He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military. Strategic Factors Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory. Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he commented.