The Kremlin released the detailed agenda for Vladimir Putin’s Friday meeting with Donald Trump as the US president is expected to push the Russian leader to agree to a ceasefire in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

On August 18, Trump again said that Zelensky and Putin should meet as soon as possible. Lavrov may have been trying to portray the Kremlin's offer to continue the Istanbul Summit talks and working groups as a fulfillment of Putin's rumored promise to Trump to hold a bilateral meeting with Zelensky.

After leaving Alaska, Trump says he would prefer to "go directly to a peace agreement" to end the war in Ukraine as he prepares to meet Zelensky on Monday.