Zelenskyy prepares for fresh White House visit - as Putin issues first comments after summit

Despite threats by the US president beforehand, of sanctions for Russia should there be no agreement on a ceasefire, a short news briefing after the talks ended with no mention of a suspension of fighting, no announced agreement on how to end the war, and little clarity about the next steps. "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," he said in a post on his social network site, Truth Social. In a statement on the summit, Mr Putin described the talks as "timely and quite useful" - but said the "removal" of what he calls the "root causes" of the crisis "must underlie the settlement".