Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky will meet in just a few days' time to sign a minerals deal which could bring the Ukraine war to an end.
Speaking from the White House following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said the historic meeting could come "this week or next" to sign the deal.
The agreement is said to see the US demand as much as $500billion (£395billion) in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for its wartime aid.
But top US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News just days ago that, as a result, Ukraine would be handed an "incredible and historic opportunity" to gain US investment in its economy.
Donald Trump met Volodymyr Zelensky on the campaign trail last September
REUTERS
He added that it would let the US "really become a partner in Ukraine's future in a way that's sustainable, but also would be the best security guarantee they could ever hope for... much more than another pallet of ammunition."
Trump's call for a meeting with Ukraine comes exactly three years to the day after Russia's forces rolled over the border for what Vladimir Putin called a "special military operation".
Putin's men had planned for the "operation" to last just three days - but now, the Russian President has been urged to make concessions and negotiate a peace.
One of those leading calls for Russia to take a seat at the negotiating table is Sir Keir Starmer - who today announced a fresh package of sanctions against Putin.
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Speaking from the White House following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump said the historic meeting could come 'this week or next'
REUTERS
The package will target Russia's "shadow fleet", which used to transport oil and goods outside the remit of existing sanctions - as well as companies in China and elsewhere which provide military tech to Moscow.
"We must keep dialling up the economic pressure to get Putin to a point where he is ready not just to talk, but to make concessions," Starmer said in a remote address to a G7 leaders' meeting in Kyiv.
Trump also said today that he will meet Putin in Moscow "at an appropriate time" - and that he does not see a problem with European troops serving as a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
As well as British soldiers, Emmanuel Macron has also suggested that French forces could be deployed to keep tensions in check after the war comes to an end.
Trump said that he will meet Putin in Moscow 'at an appropriate time'
REUTERSFrance's objective is to build a solid, long-lasting peace in Ukraine, he said in Washington.
That came just before Trump warned that unresolved war "could lead to World War Three".
"I think the war could end soon, within weeks, if we're smart," Trump said. "If we're not smart it will keep going... We don't want that.
"Remember what I said - this could escalate into a Third World War. We don't want that either."
