NEW YORK, September 5. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump is growing increasingly downbeat about the prospect of putting a quick end to the Ukraine conflict or holding a meeting between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, two US administration officials told NBC News.

Trump told his advisers that he is determined not to wreck his relations with the Russian president, the officials told the US TV channel. One of the officials also said that additional US sanctions on Russia may jeopardize Trump’s role as a fair peace broker.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal quoted officials who attended Thursday’s meeting of the coalition of the willing in Paris as saying that Trump did not make any clear commitment on fresh US sanctions on Russia, despite agreements with Europe. This information came amid statements from European leaders saying that the US president had agreed to conduct technical work jointly with Europe toward more anti-Russian sanctions, including secondary restrictions on China and other countries, the report said.

On September 4, Paris hosted a meeting of the coalition of the willing to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, among other topics. French President Emmanuel Macron has previously said that the coalition includes 30 leaders, of whom some attended the meeting via video link.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on August 30 that the actions of the coalition of the willing are aimed at undermining the emerging progress on the Ukrainian settlement following the Russian-American contacts. Earlier, Russia’s top diplomat said in an interview with NBC News that Russia will find sending "an intervention force <…> to the Ukrainian territory" unacceptable.