Vladimir Putin has spoken out about Donald Trump’s controversial efforts to end the war in Ukraine for the first time. 

The US president has caused an international storm over the last week, after organising early peace talks between Russia and the States without inviting Kyiv or any European representatives.

Trump then falsely accused Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a dictator and inaccurately blamed Kyiv for the conflict which was started by Putin’s land grab three years ago.

Fears that Trump will agree to a deal which only rewards Russia for its aggression – and possibly involves handing Ukrainian territory to Putin – have been incredibly high in the west.

Putin has mostly stayed quiet throughout this international furore, but he spoke up for the first time last night.

According to Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian president said he rated the early peace talks “highly” and it was “impossible” to solve the war without “increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States”.

Putin also claimed Moscow has “never refused” to talk to Ukraine to orchestrate a peace deal, adding: “The Europeans have stopped communicating with Russia and the Ukrainian side has banned itself from negotiating.”

He said Ukraine would not be excluded further peace negotiations – but still made fun of the country.

Alluding to Kyiv’s fury that it was not invited to this week’s early discussions, Putin mocked the country, saying: “Do they want to sit here at the negotiating table and mediate between Russia and the US?

“I would assume not. So why the hysteria? It’s unnecessary.”

Putin did not put a clear timeframe on when he would plans to have a face-to-face with Trump, but reiterated his “desire to hold such a meeting”.

The Russian president also lashed out at Europe, saying: “All European leaders, without exception, in effect directly interfered in the US election process, going so far as to directly insult one of the candidates.”

According to TASS, Putin suggested Trump’s attitude towards “allies who behaved, to put it bluntly, in a boorish manner” can be called reserved.

Hours later, Trump told reporters that Russia holds all the “cards” in a bizarre negotiating tactic.

He told the BBC on Air Force One: “I think the Russians want to see the war end, I really do.

“I think they have the cards a little bit, because they’ve taken a lot of territory. They have the cards.”

Asked if he trust Russia wants peace, he said: “I do.”

He also stood by his attacks on Zelenskyy, saying: “He refuses to have elections. He’s low in the real Ukrainian polls. How can you be high with every city being demolished?”

Zelenskyy was democratically elected in 2019, meaning the following election was scheduled to take place in 2024. That ended up being postponed due to the constant bombardment from Russia.

The Ukrainian leader’s approval rating is also above 50%.