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

Last Thursday the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the current front line.

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

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

Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, implying that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday preceded speculation that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he added.