Usha Vance called Melania Trump a "role model" Thursday for caring about children's welfare, referencing Mrs. Trump's letter to Vladimir Putin about protecting future generations.

Despite Trump's positivity, the meeting is far from guaranteed. Putin has repeatedly refused to meet with Zelenskyy during the conflict, having consistently sought to undermine the Ukrainian president's legitimacy. Russian officials rarely use Zelenskyy's name, preferring to refer to "the Kyiv regime."

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.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy but all issues must be worked through first and there's a question about Zelenskiy's authority to sign a peace deal,

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy if certain conditions are in place, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.

Stephen Kotkin, the pre-eminent historian of Russia, on Moscow’s long record of overreach, Biden’s Ukraine failure, and prospects that Kyiv can ‘win the peace.’

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that there was "light at the end of the tunnel" in Russia-U.S. relations and that the two countries were discussing joint projects in the Arctic and Alaska. The Russian president,

Russian President Vladimir Putin commended Donald Trump’s leadership qualities and said he hoped that the first steps had been taken to ensure the “full-scale restoration” of Russia-US ties.