🔗 Share this article Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Shortly After Budapest Talks Announced Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the American leader had indicated additional discussions would take place in Budapest There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced. This past week the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the Ukraine conflict. A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required". The administration declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed. Previous Developments The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Certain accounts suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting the president had pushed him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow. However, on Monday the American president endorsed a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the present positions. "Leave it as is where it stands," he remarked. Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions. Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on this week, suggesting that freezing the front line would simply constitute a temporary ceasefire. Diplomatic Positions The "root causes" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its Western allies. The Ukrainian president said discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations. He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military. Strategic Factors Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of rumors that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia. Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.