🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.

Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".

The White House withheld any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

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

However, on this week Trump embraced a truce plan backed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he stated.

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the present battle positions.

Moscow was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of extensive requirements that include the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump recently occurred before reports that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he commented.