Amid growing diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Kyiv is pushing to ensure it has a direct role in any future negotiations between Washington and Moscow.

US President Donald Trump said he would meet with Vladimir Putin for upcoming talks on the Ukraine war even if the Russian leader had not sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump became the first sitting US president to meet a North Korean leader when he sat down with Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June 2018. The summit was choreographed as a historic breakthrough, complete with gestures such as handshakes, flags and sweeping promises of denuclearisation.