National security adviser Mike Waltz expressed optimism on where things stand regarding peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting with President Donald Trump over the weekend.

The United States has been pushing Ukraine to accept a peace plan that seems in part a gift to Moscow. But the short meeting of the leaders, and subsequent comments, appeared to be a change in tone.

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held crunch war talks in the heart of the Vatican minutes before the start of the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, as the White House mounts an increasingly urgent push to strike a peace deal in Ukraine.