🔗 Share this article

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced.

This past week Trump stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources indicating the president had pushed him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he stated.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the current line of contact.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president said discussions about the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently occurred before speculation that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he added.