Putin's only response so far to a proposed 30-day truce has been donning army fatigues during a visit to the Kursk region, where he’s ordered Ukrainian troops be pushed out and treated as ‘terrorists’, if captured.

President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he had received "positive messages" about the potential for a truce in the three-year-old conflict, but “a positive message means nothing”.

The White House has confirmed Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, would be visiting Russia later this week.

“It’s up to Russia now,” Trump said from the White House. “Our people are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia.”

The US President warned that he could “do things financially that would be very bad for Russia” if the deal did not go ahead, adding “I don’t want to do that, because I want to get peace.”