The US president said he also asked Putin to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainian troops "surrounded" by Russian military.

Despite flirting with Trump there is little evidence Putin has shifted from his core war goals: cementing his landgrabs in Ukraine and stopping it joining NATO.

Russia’s stalling contrasted with Trump’s rush for a valuable breakthrough as his trade policies set off stock market slumps and cast a cloud over the economy. “I think we’re going to be in very good shape to get it done. We want to get it over with,” Trump said at the Oval Office on Thursday, in an outburst of optimism that jarred with reality.