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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 Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the Ukraine conflict.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The administration declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Earlier Events

Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Various sources suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting the president had pushed him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.

However, on Monday the American president endorsed a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he remarked.

Moscow has consistently objected against halting the existing front lines.

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would only amount to a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.

Zelensky stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.