JD Vance attended the high-profile meeting at the White House between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. However, unlike six months ago, the US Vice President remained silent throughout the whole Q&A session, leaving the two presidents to take centre stage. The US VP's silence was particularly noticeable after, in February, at the previous Oval Office summit between Mr Zelensky and Mr Trump, Mr Vance lashed out at the Ukrainian leader. At the time, Mr Zelensky was accused of not being thankful enough to Washington for the help provided in resisting the Russian invading army.

Mr Vance's silence did not go unnoticed on social media. One X user wrote: "At least JD Vance didn't open his mouth for a smart a** 'look at me' comment this time." Another, commenting on how smoother today's summit went compared to the one held in February, which resulted in Mr Zelensky leaving the White House without signing a deal, wrote: " See how much smoother things go when JD Vance stays silent."

It came after a Ukrainian official suggested that the administration hoped Vance would not attend today's meeting after "provoking" Zelensky during the fiery exchange in February.

Among other heated comments, Vance told Zelensky: "Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country."

The source told Newsweek that the Ukrainian leader had "learned his lesson" from the previous White House visit and aimed to strike a "diplomatic and respectful" tone.

They also suggested that Trump was less likely to "bully him again" because of the presence, elsewhere in the building, of Ukraine's European allies.

The atmosphere inside the Oval Office during today's meeting between Trump and Zelensky was markedly more friendly than the chaos of earlier this year.

The Ukrainian president came with a letter for the First Lady and praised her message to Putin about children suffering in the three-and-a-half year conflict.

He also appeared to bear Vance's criticism of his lack of gratitude in the February meeting in mind - thanking Trump four times in quick succession.

"Thank you for your invitation, and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts, to stop killings and stop this war," he said. "Thank you for using this opportunity, many thanks to your wife."

Alongside Vance, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff also stayed quiet while sat next to the two leaders during today's exchange.