KYIV: Ukraine`s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday urged US counterpart Donald Trump to help secure a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Turkiye on Thursday, accusing the Russian leader of not seriously wanting to negotiate an end to the war.

Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv that the West should impose massive sanctions if Putin skips the meeting, emphasising that he would do `everything` possible to make it happen and secure a ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in the US delegation at the talks which `could be some pretty good results, Trump said in Riyadh as he started a four-day Middle East trip.

The Kremlin has refused to say whether Putin will travel to Turkiye, after he himself proposed Russia-Ukraine talks in a late-night Kremlin address at the weekend. `This is his war, Zelensky said in an evening address, `therefore, the negotiations should be with him,` he added.

Any meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials would be the first direct negotiations since the early months of Moscow`s invasion in February 2022.-AFP