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There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has declared.

This past week the US president stated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration did not share additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.

Earlier Events

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders suggesting the president had urged him to cede extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on Monday the American president embraced a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and European leaders to halt the conflict on the present positions.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he said.

Russia has frequently resisted against halting the current line of contact.

The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the war demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of extensive requirements that include the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

Zelensky commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the only topic that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of speculation that the US was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.