Happy now breaking news countdown to summit.

New reporting on the final preparations and escalating rhetoric ahead of President Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shoring up support, Ukrainian President Zelensky with British Prime Minister Kier Starmard this morning, what was said and the new picture is just in.

Plus this outrage here in D.C. protesters confronting federal law enforcement

and why U.S. attorney Janine Piro is saying this. Listen.

So there, stick your subway sandwich somewhere else.

And later, are you ready for it?

Taylor Swift gets candid, how she finally got ownership of her own music to dishing on her relationship.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in the situation room.

This is CNN breaking news.

And we begin this hour with the breaking news this morning. The Russian leader Vladimir Putin

praising US peace efforts as he gets ready

for tomorrow's Alaska summit with President Trump. Tomorrow's high stakes meeting crucial and

consequential. Here's what the Russian leader said just a few moments ago.

To tell you about the stage we are at with the current American administration, which

as everyone knows is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities,

stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict

in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries

and in Europe and in the world as a whole, if by the next stages we reach agreements in the area

of control over strategic offensive weapons. Putin even raising the stakes to claim optimism

of a nuclear weapons deal. The Trump White House is striving to lower expectations of the meeting, calling it a listening

...