Zelensky has rejected Russian demands to cede Ukrainian land. The Ukrainian leader and his European partners, including the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, had lobbied the White House for weeks to demand that Moscow agree to a ceasefire before any negotiations.

President Trump’s break from a strategy agreed to with European allies could give President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia an edge as talks to end the fighting continue.

President Donald Trump reversed course in the wake of his meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin and now says an overall peace agreement is the next step in ending the war in Ukraine, rather than the ce