US President Donald Trump sniped at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday and effectively blamed him for Moscow’s invasion – even as he said he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks.

The US president also suggested that he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauled its stance towards Russia in a shift that has alarmed European leaders.

“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian reaction.

“Today I heard: ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited’. Well, you’ve been there for three years … You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he said.