Donald Trump is to hold talks with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday as he steps up his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The US president said “a lot of work’s been done over the weekend” in an effort to persuade the Russian leader to agree to a ceasefire.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week signed up to Trump’s proposal of a 30-day truce - but Putin said the “root causes” of the conflict would need to be addressed first.

That overlooked the fact that the war only started because he ordered his troops to invade Ukraine more than three years ago.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump said: “We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday.

“A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end.”

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