US President Donald Trump is open to joining a proposed peace summit with Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky in Turkey, if both are willing to engage. Turkish President Erdogan has suggested hosting the meeting in Istanbul or Ankara.

It was already hard to imagine a breakthrough emerging from the direct talks between Russia and Ukraine set to be renewed in Istanbul on Monday.

The message came after Ukraine’s forces wiped out and damaged 41 of the Kremlin’s nuclear bombers and aircraft, attacking at least four air bases across Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 30 to discuss the next round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, tentatively scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul.

A bipartisan pair of US senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday and urged stronger sanctions against Russia, while uncertainty swirls over whether the next round of peace talks will move ahead in the coming days.

Ukrainian president said that despite tricky relationship with Donald Trump, the White House is more irritated by Vladimir Putin.

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed skepticism on May 30 that the next round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, tentatively scheduled for June 2 in Istanbul, will produce any results due to what he described as Moscow's deliberate inaction.

Donald Trump appears to have set a two-week deadline for Russian president Vladimir Putin to prove he is serious about wanting to end the war in Ukraine.On being asked in the Oval Office yesterday if he thought Mr Putin wanted to end the war,