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There are "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.

Last Thursday the US president said he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest within two weeks to address the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The White House withheld additional specifics on why the talks had been postponed.

Previous Developments

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

Some reports suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with those familiar suggesting Trump had urged him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines where it stands," he remarked.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the current line of contact.

Moscow was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, indicating that halting hostilities would only amount to a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

Zelensky stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Military Considerations

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently occurred before reports that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he added.