Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have agreed to “immediately” start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, sparking fears of a favourable peace deal for Moscow.

In a call that lasted an hour and a half, the two leaders agreed to assemble teams of negotiators for direct talks on a ceasefire.

Mr Trump also said he would visit Russia and invite Putin to Washington as part of efforts to break the deadlock and save “millions of lives”.

However, the announcement raised fears that Ukraine and Europe were being frozen out of the negotiations.