🔗 Share this article Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested Putin and Trump last met in August in Alaska and the US president had said additional talks would occur in Budapest Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared. Recently Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities. A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed". The White House did not share further information on why the talks had been postponed. Earlier Events Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting Trump had urged him to give up large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia. However, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative supported by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line. "Freeze the lines in its current state," he said. Russia has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact. Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause. Political Perspectives The "fundamental issues" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners. Zelensky stated discussions about the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations. He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine. Military Considerations Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory. Zelensky stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he commented.