Donald Trump has claimed no peace deal will happen between Russia and Ukraine unless there is a direct meeting between himself and Vladimir Putin. The US President was speaking addressed the war in Ukraine before landing in Abu Dhabi for the final leg of his Middle East tour.

ISTANBUL − Russia's Vladimir Putin spurned a challenge to meet face-to-face with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Turkey, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, while Ukraine's president said his defence minister would head up Kyiv's team.

A meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will take place when the time is right. It is inevitable, said Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for counter terrorism,