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There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.

Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to address the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.

Background Context

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting Trump had pressured him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he remarked.

Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.

The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, implying that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky stated discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he added.