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There are "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.

This past week Trump indicated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been postponed.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had pushed him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

Yet, on Monday Trump supported a truce plan supported by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the conflict on the present positions.

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

Moscow has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently preceded speculation that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.