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Currently exist "no plans" for US President President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

This past week the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest soon to address the Ukraine conflict.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration clarified the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Previous Developments

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had urged him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan backed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.

Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently preceded speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.