Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met President Donald Trump at the White House on 18 August, publicly thanking him multiple times for what he called “efforts to stop killings and stop this war.” Reporters from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal tallied roughly 10–11 expressions of gratitude in Zelenskyy’s four-minute opening statement, a marked contrast with earlier criticism from U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance that Kyiv had shown scant appreciation for American aid. During the Oval Office photo-op, Zelenskyy handed Trump a handwritten letter from Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska addressed to First Lady Melania Trump. Zelenska thanked Melania for her own message to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging the release of Ukrainian children taken to Russia and pressing for a broader cease-fire. Trump said Melania’s appeal had been “very well received” by Putin when he delivered it during their 15 August summit in Anchorage, though he did not disclose any concrete response. Negotiators from Washington, Kyiv and Moscow are continuing talks aimed at framing a potential peace agreement and security guarantees for Ukraine.