There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.
Last Thursday the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting the president had pushed him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
However, on this week Trump supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the hostilities on the current front line.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he stated.
Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
The "fundamental issues" of the conflict required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands 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 Western allies.
Zelensky commented discussions about the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the sole subject that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.
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