By Thomas Escritt, Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth BERLIN/KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine and its European allies on Wednesday signalled hope that U.S. President Donald Trump would push for a ceasefire at talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin without selling out Ukraine's interests or proposing to carve up its territory.

Ukraine lost around 14,000 soldiers and civilians during this period. But in February 2022, Putin launched his full-scale invasion. Russian troops quickly reached the outskirts of Kyiv and seized huge swathes of the south, including big chunks of two more oblasts, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

For most of his quarter-century rule, President Vladimir Putin visited places like Paris, London, Vienna and New York.