U.S. President Donald Trump says he has called Russian President Vladimir Putin and begun to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a critical step toward bringing a possible end to Russia's war on Ukraine.

President Donald Trump lashed out at the criticism he’s faced for his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, which failed to result in a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the idea of "raising the level of representatives" at Ukraine talks in a 40-minute call following the U.S. leader's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,

Russian President Vladimir Putin got everything he could have hoped for in Alaska. President Donald Trump got very little — judging by his own pre-summit metrics.

I’ll get it done,” the US president says ahead of peace talks with Ukraine’s president at 13:00 EST (18:00 BST).

It was a welcome tailored for a close friend, not a war criminal, and it looked to the Ukrainians like their nightmare.

As Trump was flying into Alaska, he was threatening severe consequences if Putin didn’t play ball. Trump stressed that he wouldn’t be happy if he left the summit without an immediate ceasefire and that new sanctions may be necessary if the Russians were intransigent.

Special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump to allow the U.S. and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war.