President Donald Trump said he would be calling Russian President Vladimir Putin after hosting the president of Ukraine at the White House. Trump sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Monday before also meeting with other European leaders hastily gathered in Washington.

Melania Trump took the unique step of crafting a letter calling for peace in Ukraine, having her husband Donald Trump deliver it to Vladimir Putin.

As Trump was flying into Alaska, he was threatening severe consequences if Putin didn’t play ball. Trump stressed that he wouldn’t be happy if he left the summit without an immediate ceasefire and that new sanctions may be necessary if the Russians were intransigent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the idea of "raising the level of representatives" at Ukraine talks in a 40-minute call following the U.S. leader's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,

In a shift, Trump now aligns more closely with Putin than allies in Europe in calling for final talks before a ceasefire

Trump said he and the Russian leader spoke last week about what they see as the problems with mail-in voting. Since then, Trump has pushed again for the U.S. to end the practice.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy flies to Washington on Monday under heavy U.S. pressure to agree to a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

(Reuters) -Following are key quotes from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's press conference after meeting U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders in Washington on Monday. Translation by Reuters.