Trump is 'very disappointed' with Putin over Ukraine

President Donald Trump says he's "very disappointed" in Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US is planning to take action to reduce deaths in Russia's war in Ukraine.

He also says he's not concerned about warm ties between Russia and China.

Trump was asked in a radio interview if he was concerned "about an axis forming against the United States with China and Russia".

"I am not concerned at all."

"We have the strongest military in the world, by far. They would never use their military on us. Believe me," he said on Tuesday.

Trump held a summit with Putin in Alaska in mid-August and subsequently met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and key European and NATO alliance leaders at the White House.

Following those meetings, Trump said he expected Zelenskiy and Putin to hold a bilateral meeting before a trilateral meeting that would also include Trump.

Zelenskiy has said Russia was doing everything it could to prevent a meeting between him and Putin, while Russia says the agenda for such a meeting was not ready.

"I am very disappointed in President Putin, I can say that, and we will be doing something to help people live,"

Trump has told Zelenskiy that Washington would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal. Trump has also renewed a threat to impose further sanctions on Russia if there is no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

Russia occupies around a fifth of Ukraine, and Trump has said "land-swapping" and changes to territory will be crucial for any settlement.

Zelenskiy says Russia is engaged in a new troop buildup along certain sectors of the frontline and is still launching strikes on Ukrainian targets.

"Now we see another buildup of Russian forces in certain sectors of the front. He refuses to be forced into peace," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, referring to Putin.

"Russia continues to launch strikes. Of course, we will respond to this".

Russian forces targeted Ukraine with 150 drones overnight, more than 50 in the morning and "dozens" more in the evening.

New drone attacks, he said, amounted to "an accompaniment to Russian statements from China", a reference to Putin's visit to Beijing, where President Xi Jinping is hosting the Russian leader and North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

"Yesterday, the Russians literally denied what (US President Donald) Trump said about the leaders' meeting needed to end the war. In China, Putin is continuing to spin tales as if he not guilty for the war," said Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy has long backed Trump's call for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents as a step towards ending the war, launched by Russia's invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Russia has said no suitable agenda has been set for such a meeting.

Ukraine opposes the idea of legally recognising any Ukrainian territory as Russian but it has tacitly acknowledged it will almost certainly have to accept some territorial losses.