The Kremlin denied Tuesday that it was holding up President Donald Trump’s latest push to end the war in Ukraine, and insisted it had not changed its demands ahead of possible talks. Trump had announced that Russia and the United States' top diplomats would meet this week, with his own summit with Vladimir Putin to follow in Budapest, Hungary.

Trump wants Russia and Ukraine to freeze the war on the current battlelines, with Moscow holding a huge swathe of eastern Ukraine.

A summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine has been cancelled, the White House confirmed on Tuesday. The US and Russian leaders had been expected to meet in Budapest, Hungary, in the coming weeks for further talks on ending the war.

The leaders' cancelled summit is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to broker an end to the war, writes Anthony Zurcher.

A contentious meeting between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine produced no obvious progress toward a cease-fire.

Ukraine's parliament voted on Tuesday to amend the country's budget for this year, raising defence spending to a record level as the war with Russia dragged on into its fourth year.

Eight European leaders as well as senior European Union officials said in a joint statement they intend to go ahead with plans to use Moscow’s billions of euros of frozen assets abroad to help Kyiv win the war.

European democracy and rule of law are at risk, the general says, so Europe must give Ukraine whatever it can to pressure Moscow, even if Trump does not.

The U.K. is prepared to deploy British troops to Ukraine to secure a future peace deal in the country, British Defense Secretary John Healey has said, ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.