🔗 Share this article Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Talks Announced Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the US president had said further talks would take place in Budapest There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated. Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict. A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was no longer "necessary". The administration did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed. Background Context The US president had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow. Yet, on this week the American president endorsed a peace initiative supported by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the conflict on the current front line. "Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked. Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the present battle positions. The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a short-term truce. Political Perspectives The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that involve the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners. The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy. He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military. Strategic Factors Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike deep into Russia. The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.