Trump says 'Putin and Zelenskyy should meet without me' as he casts doubt over three-way summit
Donald Trump has said it would be better if Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin meet "without me" to discuss the war in Ukraine.
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The US President said the Russian and Ukrainian leaders are "in the process" of setting up a bilateral meeting.
It would mark the first face-to-face encounter between the pair since Russia illegally invaded Ukraine three years ago.
"Now I think it would be better if they met without me," Mr Trump told radio host Mark Levin.
But he added that "if necessary, I'll go".
Mr Trump discussed with Zelenskyy the prospect of a three-way meeting with Putin on Monday to work out a path to peace.
However, his latest comments have appeared to cast doubt over that plan.
Read more: When will Putin and Zelenskyy finally meet?
Mr Trump held historic talks in Washington with Zelenskyy and other European leaders, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The 'coalition of the willing' discussed the war in Ukraine with Mr Trump, and potential security guarantees the country may want.
"We’re willing to help them with things, especially probably if you could talk about by air, because there’s nobody has the kind of stuff we have," Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump also hosted Putin in Alaska last week and has warned the Russian leader he will face a "rough situation" if he does not co-operate in the peace process.
He said that Ukraine will not be able to get back Crimea and would not be joining NATO as part of a peace deal.
"I hope President Putin is going to be good and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation," said Mr Trump.
"And I hope that Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy, will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility."
Putin is reported to be "tired" of the war but it was still "possible" he would not strike a peace deal.
Mr Trump said in a phone call to Fox News on Tuesday that the United States could be willing to help Ukraine "by air" but ruled out putting American soldiers on the ground.
He added that Ukraine was "not going to be a part of Nato" but European troops would deter any future Russian invasion.
Mr Trump said: "(Ukraine) are not going to be a part of Nato but we’ve got the European nations, so they’ll front-load it and they’ll have – some of them, France and Germany, a couple of them, the UK – they are going to have boots on the ground.
"I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, to be honest. I think Putin is tired of it, I think they are all tired of it, but you never know.
"We are going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks, that I can tell you."