Russia’s top diplomat said in an interview released on Friday that “there is no meeting planned” between President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, the clearest sign yet that a summit the White House had said was imminent is nowhere close to materializing.

"How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?" Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News on Aug. 22.

President Trump said in a social media post Monday that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and set in motion arrangements for a summit at a location to be decided.