DONALD Trump said he and Vladimir Putin will decide Ukraine’s fate in a phone call today.

But Volodymyr Zelensky will not be involved in the crunch talks.

It comes amid fears the US President is being easily manipulated by the Russian despot.

Putin — who launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine three years ago — is stalling on a peace deal while his troops grab more ground.

Trump said the pair would discuss “land” and “power plants” during the conversation.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said yesterday that Russia did not really want peace and that Putin was “presenting demands that are ultimate goals”.

Putin has insisted he supports the US-brokered 30-day ceasefire accepted by Ukraine — but added a list of conditions which amount to all his war aims.

His forces have continued to seize territory in the east of the country and forced a Ukrainian retreat from Kursk in Russia.

The despot insists Ukraine must never join Nato, must stop receiving arms from the West and become a virtually defenceless neutral nation.

He also wants the removal of president Mr Zelensky.

Confirming Ukrainians’ worst fears of a carve-up, Trump said: “Putin and I will be talking about land and we’ll be talking about power plants.

“We’re already talking about that — dividing up assets.”