🔗 Share this article Plans for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Days After Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed Putin and Trump last met in August in Alaska and the American leader had stated additional talks would occur in Budapest There are "no plans" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared. This past week the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest soon to examine the war in Ukraine. A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was not "required". The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed. Background Context The US president had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office. Certain accounts claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders claiming Trump had pressured him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow. Nevertheless, on Monday Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the current front line. "Let it be cut in its current state," he stated. Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact. The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce. Diplomatic Positions The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that involve the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its European partners. The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations. He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine. Weapons Discussions The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia. Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he commented.