Ammon News - U.S. President Donald Trump's offer to join proposed Ukraine-Russia peace talks triggered a flurry of diplomacy as powers from Europe to the Middle East sought a possible path out of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine and, after Trump publicly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accept, Zelenskiy said he would but that Putin should attend in person.

Then in a surprise on Monday, Trump - who is due to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar this week, offered to join the Ukraine-Russia talks in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which straddles the divide between Europe and Asia.

"I've got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there. There's a possibility of it, I guess, if I think things can happen, but we've got to get it done," Trump said before departing for his second foreign trip since his second term in the White House began in January.

"Don't underestimate Thursday in Turkey," Trump said.

After Trump's offer, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the "way forward for a ceasefire" in Ukraine with European counterparts, including the foreign ministers of Britain and France, and the EU's foreign policy chief. Reuters