Trump makes embarrassing U-turn ahead of face-to-face meeting with Putin

Donald Trump made a major U-turn about his relationship with Vladimir Putin ahead of the leaders' highly anticipated Alaska summit.

Ever since coming to power last November, the US president has made no secret of the fact that he believes he is the one to end Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In-fact, Trump was once so confident about his dealmaking skills that he bragged about being able to end the conflict within a day of taking office.

Given that we're now 206 days into his second term in the White House, I think it's fair to say that convincing Putin to pull back his forces from eastern Ukraine has been a lot tougher than he originally thought.

And it seems like the 79-year-old is finally catching up with the rest of the world on that one.

Donald Trump has previously spoken about having a good relationship with Putin (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump is currently on his way to Alaska to sit down one-on-one with Putin, marking the first time the Russian leader has stepped foot in the US since 2015, and it's likely that bringing relief to the people of Ukraine will be high on his agenda.

However, if Trump's comments from a press briefing on Wednesday are anything to go by, it doesn't seem like the POTUS is holding out much hope for an immediate end to missiles and drones raining down across Ukrainian cities.

When asked by a reporter if he believed he'd be able to stop civilian deaths in Ukraine, Trump bluntly responded that the answer was 'no'.

"I'll tell you what... I’ve had a lot of good conversations with him [Putin]," Trump responded.

"Then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home or a rocket hit an apartment building and people are laying dead in the streets.

"So I guess the answer to that is no, because I’ve had this conversation."

The US leader has admitted it may be difficult to stop the Putin from targeting civilians (JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump then went on to reiterate his desire to end the fighting in Ukraine, shifting the blame solely to his predecessor Joe Biden and even suggesting the investigation into Russian intervention in US elections strained his working relationship with Putin.

What is on the table at the Trump-Putin summit?

The obvious elephant in the room will be talks to end the war in Ukraine, however, both Russian and American delegations have suggested there could be dialogue about possible economic deals.

Speaking to reporters ahead of boarding Air Force One, Trump said the US will 'not doing business until we get the war settled' and added that, while discussions about territorial swaps would be on the table, the final decision was with Ukraine.