Pakistan, Aug. 8 -- US President Donald Trump said he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for upcoming talks on the Ukraine war, even if Putin does not meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky first. This statement overturned earlier expectations that a Putin-Zelensky meeting would be a prerequisite for the summit. Trump recently gave Moscow a deadline to reach a ceasefire or face new sanctions, but when asked if the deadline still stood, he avoided giving a clear answer.

The Kremlin confirmed that Putin would attend a summit with Trump in the coming days but signalled no plans to include Zelensky. Ukrainian President Zelensky, however, firmly stated that he must be part of any negotiations about the war's future. The poten...