A senior Russian official says preparations have begun for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. offered a draft U.N. resolution that stops far short of a competing European-backed statement demanding an immediate withdrawal of all of Moscow's forces from Ukraine.

Donald Trump says he believes Russia has "the cards" in any peace talks to end the war in Ukraine because Russia has "taken a lot of territory". The US president told the BBC he trusted that Moscow wants to see an end to the war, which Russia started when it waged a full-scale invasion almost three years ago.