Melania Trump is the “quiet force” behind her husband’s apparent U-turn on Ukraine, the daughter of the president’s special envoy to Kyiv has said.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiating teams will again meet in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed, for the first such meeting since President Donald Trump set a 50-day deadline for a ceasefire to be reached.

The U.K. chaired a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting to discuss rapid transfer of arms including Patriot missiles, as the Britain responds to President Donald Trump's 50-day ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not worried about U.S. President Trump or his 50-day deadline for Russia and Ukraine to reach a ceasefire, the Guardian reported on July 22, citing unnamed Kremlin officials.

Every so often, Donald Trump sends an encouraging signal to Ukraine, despite his long pattern of deference toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last week, the president of the United States allowed the transfer of a number of American Patriot anti-missile systems through Germany—a move that will strengthen Ukraine’s air defense at a dangerous time.

On the face of it, the US involvement in Ukraine bears little similarity to the 20-year Afghanistan war, not least because there are no American boots on the ground in Europe.

President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. will send Patriot air-defense missiles to Ukraine and threatened new tariffs on Russia. Will Vladimir Putin back down? What should Trump's next move be? And what does the future hold for Ukraine? Newsweek contributors Daniel R. DePetris and Dan Perry debate: