It is hard to overplay the sense of despondency and sheer dread felt by Downing Street insiders as they watched Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky trade barbs in the Oval Office.

Trump and Putin met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday afternoon to discuss an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began more than three years ago. The pair announced “great progress” had been made, but they still did not reach any kind of plan to end the war.

The highly anticipated summit ended without a breakthrough. Afterwards, Trump said Ukraine and Russia should proceed straight to seeking a full peace deal instead of a cease-fire.

A host of European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks at the White House with US President Donald Trump tomorrow. The meeting comes on the heels of Trump’s summit in Alaska with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is being "set up to fail" by US counterpart Donald Trump, who knows there is no chance of a workable peace deal being agreed, according to a former British Army

As President Trump touched down in Anchorage on Friday to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the war in Ukraine, that country’s leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, criticized continuing Russian strikes as a sign that Moscow was not prepared to end the conflict.

The last time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was inside the Oval Office, he was berated by his US hosts, denied a planned luncheon and abruptly asked to leave the West Wing.

After leaving Alaska, Trump says he would prefer to "go directly to a peace agreement" to end the war in Ukraine as he prepares to meet Zelensky on Monday.

Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to reject Vladimir Putin's "peace deal" - which involves handing large sections of Ukraine to Russia. The Ukrainian President has claimed his Russian counterpart wants the rest of occupied Donetsk - and effectively the entire Donbas region - as part of a ceasefire deal.