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There are "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.

Recently the US president indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration did not share any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.

Background Context

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting the president had urged him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on this week Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

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

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, implying that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a set of comprehensive conditions that encompass the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the sole subject that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory.

Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.