Europe's participation in Ukraine peace talks will be needed but Moscow first wants to build trust with Washington, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, while suggesting that a deal to end the conflict may still be far off.

Trump has horrified European allies with his attacks on Volodymyr Zelenskyy and what critics say is a soft take on Vladimir Putin.

Trump refused to call Vladimir Putin a dictator, as he has described Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and falsely claimed that the U.S. had spent three times as much as Europe on the war. He demanded that Ukraine sign over hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue from natural resources to the U.S., without mentioning Russian concessions.