Updates live: Trump says Putin will conclude an agreement on Ukraine while managers are preparing for the Alaska meeting

President Donald Trump hopes to reach “a stop in fighting” between Russia and Ukraine to create a space for negotiations throughout the war, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking before Friday’s summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rubio said that the United States had “full of hope” that progress could be made and underlined the importance of a ceasefire.

“The more these wars take place, the more difficult they are to finish,” said Rubio, adding that the extension of the fighting impacts on this “lever” side in negotiations. “This is the reality of current fights, which is why a ceasefire is so critical,” he added.

“To have a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, you will need the agreement of Ukraine and Russia,” he said.

Rubio reiterated Trump’s opinion that the United States will probably be able to “very early” in Reunion “whether it is something possible or not”.

Trump himself said he thought he would be able to assess the potential for progress in the minutes after meeting his Russian counterpart.

Rubio said that for the summit, the preparations “go very quickly because it was assembled very quickly”.

“We will see how tomorrow is tomorrow,” he said.