Russia has yet again ignored Donald Trump’s bid to hold a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky and said attempts to resolve security issues for Kyiv without Moscow’s participation was a “road to nowhere”.

The Kremlin has played down talk of an imminent summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as Donald Trump renewed his call for the two leaders to meet to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian drone strike on Okhtyrka in the Sumy region wounded 14 people, including a family with three young children, overnight into Wednesday, August 20.

Republican insists sanctions could become necessary to punish Kremlin leader for snubbing diplomatic discussions on ending Ukraine war

Trump: “President Zelensky can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

Russia is sending signals that it intends to slow-walk a peace deal on Ukraine, showing some daylight between the Kremlin and President Trump’s intentions to end the war. From a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to suggestions of security agreements for Kyiv,

President Trump has offered only vague assurances of security guarantees for Ukraine if President Volodymyr Zelensky agrees to cut a deal with Russia.

While Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining Nato, his envoy Steve Witkoff said that Putin had agreed to allow “Nato-style” protection for Ukraine after their meeting on Friday. Moscow has not commented on this.