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Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.

This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".

The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting Trump had pressured him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Nevertheless, on this week the American president supported a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Let it be cut where it stands," he remarked.

Russia has frequently resisted against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he added.