Plans for a bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are now underway, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said today.

The looming prospect of a Ukraine peace summit attended by Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming weeks has sent the price of oil tumbling.

President Zelensky has hailed the promise to provide guarantees as "a major step forward", adding that the plans would be "formalised on paper within the next week to 10 days".