🔗 Share this article Preparations for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Proposed Putin and Trump previously convened in August in Alaska and the US president had stated additional talks would occur in the Hungarian capital Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared. Recently Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict. A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was not "required". The White House declined to provide additional specifics on why the talks had been put on hold. Earlier Events Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources claiming the president had pressured him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia. Nevertheless, on this week Trump embraced a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines. "Leave it as is the way it is," he said. Russia has frequently resisted against halting the present battle positions. The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause. Political Perspectives The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies. Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy. He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine. Weapons Discussions The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia. The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.