VLADIMIR Putin is set to stage the first "Axis of Evil" meeting with his dictator pals Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un at a massive military parade in China.

But the tyrant seems to be too scared to meet Zelensky, as Moscow ruled out plans for a direct peace summit with the Ukrainian president.

Putin's attendance comes as Zelensky insists that a meeting with him would be "the most effective way forward" to end the war in Ukraine .

But while US President Donald Trump has pushed to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, Moscow has rejected any immediate Putin-Zelensky talks.

Putin and Kim will be among 26 foreign leaders to attend next week's parade in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Not a single foreign leader is expected from the US or Western Europe .

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