🔗 Share this article Arrangements for Putin-Trump Summit Shelved Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Suggested Trump and Putin previously convened in August in the northern US state and the US president had said further discussions would take place in Budapest Currently exist "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced. This past week the US president said he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to examine the ongoing hostilities. A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" call 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. Previous Developments The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House. Some reports suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had pressured him to cede large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow. However, on this week Trump supported a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the present positions. "Let it be cut in its current state," he stated. Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions. Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause. Negotiating Stances The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters. The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue. He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military. Weapons Discussions Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of rumors that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia. Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he remarked.