The second Oval Office meeting in six months between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went off smoothly Monday, in sharp contrast to their disastrous encounter in February.

European leaders joined the discussions in a show of transatlantic unity, and both they and Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked Trump for his efforts to end Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his expectations for the meeting “were not just met, they were exceeded,” while Zelenskyy on Tuesday called the sit-down “an important step toward ending this war.”

But despite the guarded optimism and friendly banter among the leaders, there was little concrete progress on the main obstacles to peace — and that deadlock likely favors Russian President Vladim

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