That marks a shift in tone just over a week after Trump hosted Putin in Alaska for a whirlwind summit aimed at breaking through the three-year stalemate in the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump had initially suggested that back-to-back meetings between the key parties could occur within a matter of days or weeks.

US President Donald Trump said he spoke to Vladimir Putin in recent days and that he believed the Russian president’s dislike of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy is holding up a meeting between the two leaders.

Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press. A meeting between Zelensky and Putin had been a key aim of Trump’s following his talks with Putin in Anchorage,