Moscow hits out at ‘clumsy’ Europe and ignores Trump calls for Zelensky-Putin summit - Moscow demands to be directly engaged on questions of security concerning Ukraine and Europe

President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky met Monday in the White House. Trump said the United States will give "very good protection."

President Trump seeks to broker a meeting of the two leaders to end Europe’s most destructive war in generations.

A summit in Paris six years ago was the first and only time the two presidents ever met, flanked by French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel. At the time, Putin and Zelensky were looking to hash out a ceasefire deal for war in Donbas in Ukraine’s east, where Russia-backed forces were fighting Ukrainian troops.

Russia, Ukraine and European powers have all emerged from meetings with President Donald Trump in support of establishing security guarantees as part of a broader agreement to put an end to the bloody war between Moscow and Kyiv.

Last month was the deadliest since Putin launched his full-scale war on Ukraine three and a half years ago. In July alone, 286 civilians were killed and another 1,388, according to official data.

Trump gave his assurance that no American soldiers would be sent to protect Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia

Republican lawmakers have been overwhelmingly complimentary of President Donald Trump meeting with Vladimir Putin and attempting to put the Russian leader in a room with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.