The Kremlin has played down talk of an imminent summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as Donald Trump renewed his call for the two leaders to meet to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

President Trump seeks to broker a meeting of the two leaders to end Europe’s most destructive war in generations.

The president's sudden openness to offering NATO-style security guarantees to Ukraine has drawn a sharp rebuke from his hardcore allies.

A summit in Paris six years ago was the first and only time the two presidents ever met, flanked by French president Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s then-chancellor Angela Merkel. At the time, Putin and Zelensky were looking to hash out a ceasefire deal for war in Donbas in Ukraine’s east, where Russia-backed forces were fighting Ukrainian troops.

Residents in Kyiv have expressed relief following Monday’s talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Trump, and other European leaders at the White House. They also expressed support for Zelensky’s refusal to cede territory to Russia as Trump pushes for a meeting between Russian President Putin and Zelensky.

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