Why it matters: Putin has shown no interest in sitting down with Zelensky through 3.5 years of war. President Trump claims that's now changed, and that a presidential meeting is the key to unlocking peace.

The Kremlin hasn't ruled out summits but has said they could only meet in the very final stages of clinching a peace agreement.

Doing so would require the Russian leader to “accept the failure of sitting down with a president he considers a joke from a country that doesn’t exist”

DONALD Trump said it is virtually impossible to set up a meeting between Putin and Zelensky as his efforts continue to be frustrated. Zelensky has said he is ready and willing to meet – but

Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said Russia "does not want to end the war."