Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at their summit in Anchorage, Alaska, in August.

A BBC Russia expert says Donald Trump’s determination to build a strong relationship with Vladimir Putin is boosting the Russian president’s desire to win the war in Ukraine.

Steve Rosenberg, the corporation’s Moscow correspondent, said the conflict is now “existential” for Putin, nearly four years after he ordered to invasion of his neighbour.

Trump held peace talks in Florida with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week, but an end to the conflict still seems a long way off.

Russia has also accused Kyiv of launching a drone attack on one of Putin’s residencies – a claim fiercely denied by Zelenskyy.

Speaking on Radio Four’s Today programme, Rosenberg said: “The Kremlin leader has invested so much in this so-called ‘special military operation’ – nearly a........

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