🔗 Share this article

Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.

Last Thursday the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".

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

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting the president had pressured him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump embraced a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he remarked.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of comprehensive conditions that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky said talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader recently occurred before rumors that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.