Trump warns of ‘severe consequences’ if Putin doesn’t agree to stop war after summit

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to stop the Ukraine war after Friday's summit.

Trump was “very clear” in a virtual meeting on Wednesday with European leaders that the US wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming US-Russia summit in Alaska, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

In the same meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he told the group that Putin “is bluffing” ahead of the planned meeting with Trump.

Putin, Zelenskyy said, “is trying to apply pressure ... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front” in an attempt to show that Russia is “capable of occupying all of Ukraine”.

Putin is also bluffing about sanctions, “as if they do not matter to him and are ineffective. In reality, sanctions are very helpful and are hitting Russia's war economy hard,” Zelenskyy said.