🔗 Share this article Preparations for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Shortly After Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed Trump and Putin last met in August in Alaska and the American leader had stated further discussions would occur in Budapest Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated. Recently the US president said he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities. A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required". The White House declined to provide further information on why the talks had been put on hold. Background Context Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House. Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating the president had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow. Yet, on this week the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line. "Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked. Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions. Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire. Negotiating Stances The "fundamental issues" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of extensive requirements that encompass the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies. Zelensky said conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue. He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine. Weapons Discussions The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the United States was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia. Zelensky said it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he added.