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There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.

Last Thursday the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources claiming Trump had urged him to cede large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.

However, on this week the American president embraced a peace initiative supported by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines the way it is," he stated.

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

The Russian government was only interested in "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "fundamental issues" of the conflict needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its Western allies.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the United States was preparing to send distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he remarked.