Donald Trump in a new turn of events showered praise on Vladimir Putin and took the moment to reiterate Volodymyr Zelensky is not invited to their meeting in Alaska this Friday.

Russia Ukraine war

The US President said he will try to set up a summit between the Ukrainian leader and the Russian dictator afterwards – but only if he sees there is need do; if a peace deal is possible.

In a press conference that has raised many eyebrows from ‘the Ukraine faithfuls’, Trump said he ‘got along very well’ with Putin saying the strongman saw him as ‘the apple of his eye’ before the invasion.

Trump blames Zelensky

He described Moscow’s decision to reach out to him and offer to meet in Alaska as ‘very respectful’ before once more appearing to blame Zelensky for the war.

As it is, no one actually know where the US President’s dedication lies.

In his word, Trump said he was ‘bothered’ that the Ukrainian had said he would need constitutional approval for any ‘land swaps’ – claiming he didn’t need it ‘to go into war and kill everybody’.

In a contradictory press conference the US President said he would ‘try and get some territory back’ for Ukraine but warned he may also walk away and say, ‘this is not going to be settled’.

People now remember Trump’s first days in office where he parroted Kremlin talking points and piled pressure on Kyiv whilst being seemingly charmed by Moscow.

What Zelensky thinks

Immediately after the Washington press conference, Mr Zelensky posted a summary of his meeting with Canadian PM Mark Carney where he warned ‘the Russians simply want to buy time, not end the war’.

Also Sir Keir Starmer has been ‘very clear that the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine’.

They added: ‘You can never trust President Putin as far as you can throw him’, but that the British government ‘absolutely supports President Trump’s work to stop the killing in Ukraine’.