German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said the positions of Ukraine, its European allies and US President Donald Trump are "very much in agreement" ahead of a planned meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska later this week.

Ukraine lost around 14,000 soldiers and civilians during this period. But in February 2022, Putin launched his full-scale invasion. Russian troops quickly reached the outskirts of Kyiv and seized huge swathes of the south, including big chunks of two more oblasts, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Trump wants Russia and Ukraine to "land swap" and plans on talking to Putin about ending the war without Zelenskyy present.