President Donald Trump of the United States has expressed his intention to meet with Russia leader Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, amid efforts from Washington to end the ongoing war in Ukraine.

According to the New York Times, Mr Trump made the disclosure during a phone call with European leaders on Wednesday, with the people aware of the matter adding that the politician also plans to hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky afterwards.

The meeting would not include any European leaders, who Mr Trump has so far majorly ignored in his efforts to pressure Russia and Ukraine to end the years-long war in the region.

The latest discussion between Mr Trump and European leaders came after the American’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Mr Putin inside Russia for several hours on Wednesday. 

“Afterwards I updated some of our European Allies,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. “Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!.” 

The NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mr Witkoff were all present during the phone conversation.

As part of efforts to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine, the Trump administration on Thursday increased the tariffs on India products to 50 per cent over its continuous purchase of Russian petroleum products, with the White House accusing the Asian country of funding Mr Putin’s war.