President Donald Trump started the week declaring a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to get Russia and Ukraine closer to making peace, announcing he had begun arranging for direct talks between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump sounded positive on Monday as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House, just two days after his summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska. "I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along," Trump said.

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,

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is discussing with the United States the possibility of cooperation in the Arctic and in Alaska. Source: Putin at a meeting with nuclear industry workers,

Russia's leader said he was "confident that the leadership qualities" of Trump are a "good guarantee" of future agreements between global superpowers.