🔗 Share this article Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Shortly After Budapest Talks Proposed Trump and Putin last met in August in the northern US state and the American leader had indicated additional discussions would take place in Budapest There are "no plans" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated. Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine. A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "constructive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "needed". The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold. Previous Developments The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Some reports indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting the president had urged him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow. However, on this week Trump embraced a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the war on the current front line. "Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated. Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions. The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause. Negotiating Stances The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its Western allies. Zelensky commented discussions about the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy. He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine. Strategic Factors Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory. The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he commented.