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There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".

The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating Trump had pressured him to cede large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on this week the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the present positions.

"Leave it as is the way it is," he stated.

Russia has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he remarked.