WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russia's deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet with U.S. President Donald Trump next week, but said he was not aware of any planned meeting between Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

President Donald Trump appeared to back away from previous attempts to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump told reporters on Thursday that Putin would no longer need to meet with Zelensky before he would meet with the Russian leader as he attempts to negotiate a ceasefire deal