The Kremlin has played down talk of an imminent summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as Donald Trump renewed his call for the two leaders to meet to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

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”

Republican insists sanctions could become necessary to punish Kremlin leader for snubbing diplomatic discussions on ending Ukraine war

The conditions blunt the impact of two major wins Trump achieved in his back-to-back meetings with Putin in Alaska on Friday and with Zelensky and top European leaders at the White House on Monday.

Why it matters: Putin has shown no interest in sitting down with Zelensky through 3.5 years of war. President Trump claims that's now changed, and that a presidential meeting is the key to unlocking peace.

The Kremlin hasn't ruled out summits but has said they could only meet in the very final stages of clinching a peace agreement.

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could meet within the next two weeks thanks to President Trump’s efforts to bring an end to the war, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

President Trump said Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and special envoy Steve Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.

O n August 18th Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, will enter the White House to meet Donald Trump and discuss ending the war in Ukraine. For Mr Zelensky it is a perilous moment. Since Mr Trump met Vladimir Putin,