The White House says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not join the planned summit between the US and Russian presidents on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet in Alaska's largest city of Anchorage.

Leavitt said that although only "one party in this two party war" will be taking part, "you need both countries to agree to a deal," indicating that Ukraine's agreement is also necessary to end the conflict.

Leavitt described the summit as a "listening exercise" for Trump. She said the goal for the president is to "walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war."

A US State Department spokesperson said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had spoken by phone and confirmed their commitment to ensuring that the summit will be successful.