The Kremlin is insisting on the 2022 Istanbul format for negotiations as a way to buy time and blame Kyiv for the stalling of current peace talks, while planning to repeat an invasion under more favorable conditions in the future,

The return of the forcefully deported Ukrainian children “is a subject at the top of all lists,” Donald Trump said, adding that the US and Europe will work together with Ukraine and the rest of the world “to hopefully bringing them home to their families".

Trump earlier hosted Ukrainian and European leaders for discussions about security guarantees for Ukraine. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Russia on Tuesday returned the bodies of what it said were 1 000 Ukrainian soldiers, five of whom died while in captivity, a Ukrainian government agency said.

According to Russian authorities, the remains belong to Ukrainian servicemembers killed in action in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Kursk regions.

The Kremlin is likely to use today's summit in Alaska to try to divert U.S. attention away from peace talks with Ukraine and onto U.S.-Russian relations. In this way, Putin and the Russian delegation will push the Trump administration to push Moscow's much-needed economic relations.