Zelenskyy insists on guarantees ahead of Trump meeting after US president says Ukraine can ‘forget about’ joining Nato – live

Ukrainian president says guarantees of peace and security' were vital ahead of expected talks in Washington on Friday

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that expert level talks between the US and Russia were being prepared. In his daily media briefing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were no current plans for Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump to speak directly on the phone.

The Kremlin said it declined to comment on any aspect of a proposed US-Ukraine deal allowing the US to extract rare minerals from Ukraine in lieu of payment for military support until there were official statements. Russia's president on Monday evening offered to sell Russian rare earth minerals to US companies, including minerals from the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine