During a White House event on Monday, US President Donald Trump shared a lighthearted remark made by Russian President Vladimir Putin about First Lady Melania Trump.

Addressing the event, Trump recalled his conversation with Putin, stating that the Russian leader had told him, “They respect your wife a lot.”

In response, Trump jokingly asked, “What about me?” Putin reportedly replied, “They like Melania better.” The exchange drew laughter from the audience, adding a personal touch to the ongoing dialogue between the two leaders.

Earlier, after a two-hour phone call with Trump, President Putin said Moscow is ready to work with Ukraine to end the three-year-long conflict.

“We have agreed with the President of the United States that Russia will propose and is ready to work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a possible future peace accord, defining a number of positions, such as, for example, the principles of settlement and the timing of a possible peace agreement,” Putin told reporters, according to news agency Reuters.

He added that any progress toward peace would require setting terms for a ceasefire, including its duration. Ukraine, along with its European partners and the US, has urged Russia to accept an immediate, unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

The war dates back to February 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, beginning the biggest conflict in Europe since World War 2. The invasion followed years of tension after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its backing of separatist movements in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.