Plans for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Announced

There are "no plans" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.

Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a meeting was not "needed".

The White House withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had pressured him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on this week the American president endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated.

Russia has frequently resisted against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Political Perspectives

The "root causes" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of extensive requirements that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky stated discussions about the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.

He additionally stated the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday preceded rumors that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine 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 discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he remarked.