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There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.

This past week Trump said he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders claiming Trump had pushed him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

"Let it be cut the way it is," he said.

Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would only amount to a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky stated discussions about the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target Russian territory.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.