🔗 Share this article Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested Putin and Trump last met in late summer in the northern US state and the American leader had said additional talks would take place in the Hungarian capital Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared. Recently the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine. A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required". The administration declined to provide further information on why the talks had been delayed. Earlier Events The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had pressured him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Russia. However, on Monday Trump supported a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines. "Leave it as is where it stands," he said. Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the existing front lines. Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would merely represent a temporary ceasefire. Diplomatic Positions The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that include the recognition of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters. The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy. He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine. Weapons Discussions The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia. The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he commented.