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There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the near term", a White House official has announced.

Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest within two weeks to examine the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".

The White House withheld any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Earlier Events

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating the president had urged him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

Yet, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines 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 said on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky commented discussions about the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.