U.S. President Donald Trump will approach his encounter with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as a "listening exercise," the White House said, taming expectations that this week's Alaska summit could yield a deal to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"This is a listening exercise for the president. Look, only one party that's involved in this war is going to be present," White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. "And so this is for the president to go and, again, to get a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end."

The shift to downplaying the Friday meeting between the two heads of state — which will take place at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, according to NBC News reporting — takes place as Russia has deepe

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