🔗 Share this article Plans for Putin-Trump Meeting Postponed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested Putin and Trump previously convened in August in the northern US state and the US president had stated further discussions would occur in Budapest Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated. Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities. A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed". The administration withheld any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed. Background Context The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Certain accounts claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming the president had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow. However, on this week the American president supported a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the conflict on the current front line. "Let it be cut the way it is," he stated. Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines. The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce. Political Perspectives The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies. The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy. He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military. Strategic Factors Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia. The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.