🔗 Share this article Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Proposed Putin and Trump last met in August in the northern US state and the US president had said additional discussions would take place in Budapest Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has announced. Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to address the war in Ukraine. A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was not "necessary". The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed. Previous Developments Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House. Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting the president had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow. However, on Monday Trump supported a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to pause the conflict on the present positions. "Freeze the lines where it stands," he remarked. Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the present battle positions. Moscow was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a brief pause. Diplomatic Positions The "fundamental issues" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of extensive requirements that include the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners. The Ukrainian president commented discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue. He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military. Weapons Discussions The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded rumors that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia. Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.