President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in the White House on Monday, where the conversation was more subdued than their previous Oval Office encounter.
CNN's Kristen Holmes said that it appeared to her as if both leaders were trying to be "on their best behavior."
"But what we saw was really a transformation of Zelensky from that last time when things had gone off the rails," she noted. "Not only did he say that he was grateful to President Trump at one point, he also said that he was grateful for the new NATO program, in which weapons are bought from the U.S. and then sent to Ukraine. He clearly heard that message loud and clear."
One of the more notable moments, Holmes pointed out, is that neither side "took the bait from reporters in the room."
Trump was asked about previous statements in which he claimed it was Zelensky's war to end, when Zelensky said that it was Putin's war to end. The men were asked, "Which is it?"
"They both danced around that question," observed Holmes. "Another point, he was asked specifically who holds the cards? President Trump, remember, this was something he kept shouting at Zelensky during that Oval Office meeting in February. 'You don't hold the cards.' He demurred on that answer, saying it was not something that he wanted to talk about. He didn't want to say."
Meanwhile, Holmes noted that Zelensky was asked a very loaded question that essentially said, "Are you willing to let Ukrainian troops continue to die? Or will you redraw the maps?" And he said, "I believe there is a diplomatic resolution that we could have to this war."
See the clip below or at the link here.