President Donald Trump has often bragged about his warm relationship with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. But in the months leading up to the leaders’ first meeting in six years, Trump began asking Europeans and White House aides what’s changed about his counterpart.

Whether the U.S.-Russia summit can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow’s invasion remains to be seen.

European leaders held a high-stakes meeting Wednesday with President Trump, Vice President Vance, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO's chief ahead of Friday's U.S.-Russia summit.