U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible to secure an end to the war with Ukraine and expressed a desire to work towards cutting nuclear arms.

Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land. He also refuses to accept Ukraine joining Nato, the military alliance of Western countries.