Trump says he wants to meet Putin soon to ensure end of Ukraine war

Davos, Switzerland: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to secure an end to the almost three-year-old war with Ukraine, lamenting what he called the huge loss of life.

In the run-up to his November 5 election victory, Trump declared dozens of times that he would have a deal in place between Ukraine and Russia on his first day in office, if not before. His advisers now concede the war will take months to resolve.

"I really would like to be able to meet with President Putin soon to get that war ended," Trump, who returned to the White House on Monday, told the World Economic Forum in Davos by video link.

"And that's not from the standpoint of economy or anything else. It's from the standpoint of millions of lives are being wasted ... It's a carnage. And we really have to stop that war."

Trump also said US efforts to secure a peace settlement were now hopefully under way, but gave no details.