🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.

Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration clarified 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 postponed.

Background Context

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on this week the American president embraced a truce plan backed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the present positions.

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

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, implying that pausing conflict would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he remarked.