Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in the coming days, the Kremlin said on Thursday, as the U.S. president seeks a breakthrough to end the Ukraine war after voicing mounting frustration with his Russian counterpart and threatening him with new sanctions.

The meeting was confirmed by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov but he played down a three-way summit with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.

President Vladimir V. Putin has long said he wants to sit down with President Trump. The reason: He believes that such a meeting, rather than just progress on the battlefield, is his best chance for securing a victory in his war against Ukraine.