Trump has generally veered away from overtly criticizing Putin while openly berating Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, but has repeatedly condemned Russia's lethal airstrikes and floated that the Kremlin could be "tapping us along."

The United States told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that its proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine was "Russia's best possible outcome" and President Vladimir Putin should take the deal.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy wants face-to-face talks with Putin but the Russian leader shows no readiness - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has dismissed Russia’s ceasefire proposal as “an ultimatum” and renewed his call for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock over the war,