Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is expected to meet with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich on Friday after Donald Trump startled US allies by calling Vladimir Putin and announcing the start of peace talks.

Zelenskiy is due to meet with Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio before the Munich Security Conference, an annual international gathering of political leaders, military officers, and diplomats in the German city.

US President Trump’s move stoked fears among European governments that they may be cut out of a deal to end the war, which could end up being too favourable to Russia and undermine their own security.

Trump said on Wednesday he had held a "highly productive phone call" with Russian President Putin and they had agreed to start negotiations immediately. He then briefed Zelenskiy on the call.

Zelenskiy has been publicly cordial about Trump's call with the Russian president but also warned world leaders against "trusting Putin’s claims of readiness to end the war".

The Ukrainian leader may face a challenge in convincing Vance to provide strong backing for Kyiv's war effort.

As a senator, Vance expressed blunt scepticism about US support for Ukraine. At the Munich conference last year, he said US strategic priorities lay more in Asia and the Middle East.

Speaking on a podcast in 2022, he said: "I don't really care what happens in Ukraine one way or the other."