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

Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The administration declined to provide additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming Trump had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on this week Trump endorsed a truce plan backed by Kyiv and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the present positions.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he said.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines.

The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky stated talks regarding the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.

Zelensky said it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.