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There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.

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

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources indicating the president had pressured him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on Monday Trump supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the conflict on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, implying that pausing conflict would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president commented discussions about the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.