Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave Donald Trump a golf club during his visit to Washington this week that had belonged to a serviceman fighting Russia’s invasion, Kyiv said on Tuesday.

Trump, an avid golfer who owns several courses, accepted the gift and presented Zelenskyy with symbolic keys to the White House in return, the Ukrainian leader’s office said.

The warm exchange marks a stark turnaround from February, when Zelenskyy left the White House early after a televised shouting match with Trump and the US vice-president, JD Vance.

Since that tense encounter, Zelenskyy has sought to repair ties, flattering Trump in public appearances and praising his efforts to secure peace.

“The president of Ukraine presented the president of the United States with a golf club,” Zelenskyy’s office said.

The club previously belonged to Kostiantyn Kartavtsev, a Ukrainian soldier who “had lost a leg in the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion while saving his brothers-in-arms”, the office said.

Zelenskyy showed Trump a video of Kartavtsev, it said.

Later on Tuesday, the Ukrainian veteran organisation United by Golf published a video of Trump holding the golf club and thanking Kartavtsev.

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“I just watched your swing. I know a lot about golf and your swing is great,” Trump said in the video. “You’re an amazing person, and you just keep playing golf and doing all of the other things. Your country is a great country. We’re trying to bring it back to health.”

Zelenskyy also brought a letter for Melania Trump from his wife, Olena Zelenska, thanking the US first lady for writing to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, urging him to save children’s lives.

Foreign leaders visiting the White House have been trying to woo Trump with various gifts. In late February, the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, brought him an invite for an official visit with a letter signed by King Charles III.