Volodymyr Zelenskyy has learned his lesson from the last time he was in the Oval Office.

When the Ukrainian leader was at the White House in February, he didn’t wear a suit and was berated by Donald Trump and JD Vance over alleged disrespect.

Trump-Zelenskyy latest: NATO-style security guarantees

Zelenskyy’s learned from that moment six months ago and he’s taken on board what other European and world leaders have done with these Oval Office moments – that the best policy is to say as little as possible.

Such was the contrast that the right-wing reporter Brian Glenn, who questioned Zelenskyy over not wearing a suit in February, told the Ukrainian leader: “You look fabulous in that suit.”

The best tactic for dealing with Trump in front of reporters is to not answer the question, don’t rise to the bait.

Get in there and out as soon and as quickly as you can. And this time, that is precisely what Zelenskyy did.

Did Vance learn his lesson too?

The vice president berated Zelenskyy last time but this time, while the US president’s key advisers were there, JD Vance sat quietly to Trump’s side, saying nothing altogether.

It was a marked contrast from six months ago, but some sort of “gulf between the two sides in terms of any peace deal” continues.

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Melania’s influence

The influence of Melania Trump seems apparent again.

The US first lady sent a letter to Vladimir Putin via Trump at the Alaska summit on Friday, calling for the war to end.

And on Monday, Zelenskyy gave Trump a letter from his own wife for Melania.

Veteran stuntman Ronnie Rondell Jr, who was set on fire for the front cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album, has died, his family has said.

Rondell Jr, who performed in a host of Hollywood films, including How the West Was Won, Ice Station Zebra, Twister and The Matrix Reloaded, was 88.

He died at a care home in Osage Beach, Missouri, earlier this week, his family said in a statement posted on the Hedges-Scott-Millard funeral homes website.

Rondell Jr was pictured as a businessman on fire on the cover of the British rock band’s multi-million-selling 1975 album.

His moustache was singed off during the shoot on the Warner Bros studio lot in Burbank, California, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rondell Jr also racked up numerous TV credits and was known for taking on daring stunts involving diving, gymnastics and hang-gliding skills.

One of his best-known stunts was leaping from a pole that was on fire as it toppled over in the 1963 adventure film Kings of the Sun.

Two years later, he could be seen in midair flying upside down above a cannon in the 1965 western Shenandoah.

Among his other movie credits are the James Bond adventure, Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles (1974), Lethal Weapon (1987), Thelma & Louise (1991), Speed (1994) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996).

He later came out of retirement to take part in a spectacular car chase in The Matrix Reloaded (2003), on which his son R A Rondell was the supervising stunt coordinator.

Rondell came from a family steeped in the movies, with his father, Ronald R Rondell, an extra who graduated to working as an assistant director on films like Around the World in 80 Days and various TV shows.

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One of his sons, R A Rondell, is a stunt performer and coordinator, while another son, Reid Rondell, 22, died in 1985 in a helicopter crash in California while performing a stunt on the TV series Airwolf.

Born in Hollywood in 1937, Rondell excelled in gymnastics and diving at school before entering the US Navy, where he specialised in scuba diving and mine force demolition.

He began as an extra before graduating to TV stunt work, eventually setting up Stunts Unlimited, which represented top motorcycle racers, car drivers, horsemen, pilots, aerial specialists and fight choreographers.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Mary Rondell, his son, R A Rondell, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

When Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies meet Donald Trump in Washington, a huge amount is at stake.

Ukrainian officials are reported to feel betrayed by the US president, who appears to have shifted position to side with Vladimir Putin on a number of key points in the wake of the meeting with him in Alaska.

Trump has undermined the unity of the Western alliance by abandoning their calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

He is no longer threatening more severe sanctions, and more worryingly still he seems open to the idea of making the Ukrainians hand over territory the Russians have not yet captured.

He and his real estate lawyer turned rookie negotiator Steve Witkoff seem to believe the conflict can be resolved by an exchange of territory. Putin on the other hand has made it clear he is fighting to extinguish Ukraine as an independent and democratic entity.

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Why is Zelenskyy bringing posse of leaders to talks?

Ukrainians say that for Zelenskyy, handing over land his troops have been fighting to defend since 2014 would be politically suicidal and strategically insane.

Sergeant Andriy Poluhin, from the Ukrainian 24th Brigade, has fought the Russians in Donetsk on and off since 2015 and is currently based in the fiercely embattled town of Chasiv Yar.

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He’s typical of many Ukrainians, appalled at the idea his country would have to hand over land so many of their comrades have died fighting for.

Putin’s claim that he wants to end the war and stop the killing, he says, is self-evidently false.

“It’s a lie, it’s obviously a lie. I think it’s not only my thoughts or Ukrainian ones, but everyone who deals with Russia understands he just lies,” he says.

Many would agree – except the US president himself, who says he believes the Russian leader wants the killing to end.

The challenge for Zelenskyy and his European outriders when they go to the White House is avoiding a repeat of the disastrous Oval Office encounter between him and Trump and his vice president in February.

They need to steer Trump back to their side of the argument without angering the famously thin-skinned president and driving him further towards Moscow.

The unity of the alliance against Putin has never been so threatened.