I really hope Ukraine will be there, America, Europe and the Russians,’ Zelenskyy said regarding the set-up of the peace talks. A day earlier, Putin had said he was open to meeting Trump to discuss th

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday warned that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin wanted to "manipulate" Donald Trump, after the Kremlin chief praised the US leader and said he was ready for talks with him.

Trump's stance on the conflict is rooted in his belief that Zelenskyy should have negotiated a deal with Russian President Putin to avoid the war. "I could have made that deal so easily, and Zelenskyy decided that 'I want to fight,