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There are "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The White House did not share any more details on why the talks had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting Trump had pressured him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on this week Trump endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he said.

Moscow has frequently resisted against pausing the current line of contact.

Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, implying that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of extensive requirements that encompass the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently preceded speculation that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he commented.