A possible meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will depend on whether there is progress in ending the war in Ukraine, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

He has told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Saudi Arabia that there will be no one-on-one conversation between Trump and Putin "until we know what the meeting is going to be about."

Russia and the United States agreed to set up negotiating teams to end the war. Both Putin and Trump confirmed they wanted to meet in person.

"I think this meeting is going to depend a lot on whether we can make any progress to end the war in Ukraine. If we can and if this meeting is what seals the deal, I think everybody should celebrate that President Trump is a peacemaker," Marco Rubio added.

Trump has pushed for a quick agreement to end the war, but his tactics have alarmed Ukraine and European governments, who fear Russia and the United States could reach a deal that ignores their security interests.

On February 19, Trump shocked Ukraine and its European allies by calling President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" and falsely blaming Ukraine for starting the war. | BGNES