US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should agree to a deal to end the war with Russia because 'Russia is a very big power, and they're not,' after holding a summit with President Vladimir Putin that failed to yield a ceasefire.

In a major shift, Trump also stated that he had agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was through a peace settlement rather than a ceasefire.

The summit between Trump, Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took place in Alaska on Friday.

According to Trump, it was determined by all parties involved that a direct peace agreement would be the most effective solution to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump added that he will hold talks with Zelensky at the White House on Monday and if everything goes well, they could schedule a meeting with Putin.

This move has the potential to save millions of lives.

Zelensky expressed his support for a trilateral meeting with Putin following a lengthy conversation with Trump after the summit in Alaska.

However, Putin did not mention meeting Zelensky when speaking to reporters earlier.

The Ukrainian government has been emphasizing the need for security guarantees as part of any potential deal to prevent future invasions from Russia.

Before the summit, Trump had set the goal of agreeing on a ceasefire in the war but said he would be unhappy without it.

Putin expressed his willingness to work on ensuring Ukraine's security during the meeting and hopes that the understanding reached will help lead to peace.

However, some commentators were critical of the outcome of the summit, stating that Putin achieved more from the meeting than Trump.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in over a million casualties, including thousands of civilians, since it began in February 2022.

Both sides continued their air attacks overnight despite the summit's failure to produce a ceasefire agreement.