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There are "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has declared.

Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".

The White House declined to provide any more details on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

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

Some reports suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting Trump had urged him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he remarked.

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

Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.