🔗 Share this article Preparations for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Talks Announced Trump and Putin previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the American leader had said further talks would take place in Budapest There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced. Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict. A planning session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required". The White House did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed. Previous Developments The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. Some reports indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with insiders indicating Trump had urged him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia. Yet, on this week the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the war on the existing battle lines. "Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated. Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines. Moscow was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause. Political Perspectives The "underlying reasons" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners. The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy. He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine. Strategic Factors Putin's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory. The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in international relations", he added.