A summit in Paris six years ago was the first and only time the two presidents ever met, flanked by French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel. At the time, Putin and Zelensky were looking to hash out a ceasefire deal for war in Donbas in Ukraine’s east, where Russia-backed forces were fighting Ukrainian troops.

Doing so would require the Russian leader to “accept the failure of sitting down with a president he considers a joke from a country that doesn’t exist”

President Trump seeks to broker a meeting of the two leaders to end Europe’s most destructive war in generations.

Russia, Ukraine and European powers have all emerged from meetings with President Donald Trump in support of establishing security guarantees as part of a broader agreement to put an end to the bloody war between Moscow and Kyiv.

Last month was the deadliest since Putin launched his full-scale war on Ukraine three and a half years ago. In July alone, 286 civilians were killed and another 1,388, according to official data.

Trump gave his assurance that no American soldiers would be sent to protect Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia

Donald Trump welcomed the leaders of Ukraine and several European allies to the White House on Monday after his summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. Trump says he's now coordinating a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy - but will Putin actually follow through?