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The Trump administration has played down expectations of a peace deal at Friday’s summit between the US and Russian presidents, saying Ukraine would have to be party to any agreement. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin would be a “listening exercise”, and that there was no particular outcome that Washington could predict.  

“The goal of this meeting is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war,” she said.

“This bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this two party war, right? You need both countries to agree to a deal,” Leavitt added.

She confirmed that Trump would be travelling to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, and there would be a “one-on-one” meeting between the US president and Putin, but did not offer further details of the summit.

The White House’s comments come amid broad concerns in Ukraine and across Europe that Trump will clinch an agreement on Russia’s terms that will be unacceptable to Kyiv.

When asked about Russia’s interest in expanding the talks to a broader discussion about easing bilateral tensions with the US, Leavitt answered: “This conversation is focused on ending the war in Ukraine, as far as the president’s perspective goes.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday that he believed separate meetings with the US and Russian presidents would be necessary to begin the peace process.

“We need to have three meetings — two bilateral, one trilateral. And probably, after the trilateral one, we will get a result,” he said.

Zelenskyy later said he had spoken with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who offered to host a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, the US and Turkey. Three rounds of peace negotiations have been held between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Istanbul since Trump began his second term.

The Ukrainian president also insisted that a European presence during the talks “in one form or another” would be “very important” in a situation where European countries could be called on to foot the bill for Ukraine’s security.

“In the end, no one except Europe is giving us security guarantees, including funding for our military,” Zelenskyy said.

European leaders on Wednesday are set to hold consultations over Ukraine with Trump ahead of his encounter with Putin, as they seek to shape talks that could determine the continent’s long-term security.

Zelenskyy would join the call with the leaders of Germany, France, UK, Italy, Poland and Finland to discuss security guarantees and Russia occupying Ukrainian territory as part of a possible ceasefire agreement, according to the Ukrainian president and German government spokesperson.

Zelenskyy said he would “talk with Europeans and Americans, and I will insist sensitive Ukrainian issues be discussed with Ukraine present”.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president António Costa will also attend.

Zelenskyy said that he supported “Trump’s idea — a ceasefire first, then negotiations”.

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“But without us at the table, nothing about Ukraine will be legitimate,” he said. “Putin’s win in this scenario would be simply having the photo with Trump, exiting isolation and delaying sanctions.”

Zelenskyy sought to assuage concerns that Trump would do any deal with Putin behind Ukraine’s back, calling the US leader “a mediator, not on Russia’s side”.

“Putin’s proposals are not America’s proposals,” he added. “The US knows our position and can weaken Putin’s stance.”