Axios

Israel and the U.S. have agreed not to accept any changes in the 2017 Southern Syria cease fire deal unless Russia commits to taking steps to limit and roll back Iran's presence in this area and in the country as a whole, Israeli and U.S. officials tell me.

The backdrop: The Syrian army is about to start a military operation against rebels in Southern Syria near the Israeli and Jordanian borders, which would violate a ceasefire deal signed by the U.S., Russia and Jordan last July. The Russians want to update the deal because of the Syrian operation.

President Trump has announced that his summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un will take place as originally scheduled, on June 12 in Singapore. The announcement follows a meeting with North Korean official Kim Yong-chol, who delivered a letter from Kim written in response to Trump's decision to call off the summit last week.

Between the lines: Trump said talks with North Korea would be "a process” and he's been telling the North Koreans to "take your time," tempering expectations for the kind of breakthrough he had previously said was achievable. He described the meeting as "getting to know you, plus." Trump also signaled a change of tone, saying: “I don’t want to use the term maximum pressure any more.” That kind of rhetoric had angered the North Koreans, but was the standard way members of the Trump administration described their approach.

Kim Yong-chol, aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has arrived at the White House to meet with U.S. officials and hand-deliver North Korea's response to President Trump's announcement cancelling the June 12 summit in Singapore.

Be smart: U.S. and North Korean officials have been proceeding as if the summit is still on. Both nations have dispatched teams to Singapore, North Korea and the U.S. to nail down details of an anticipated summit. Yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Kim Yong-chol in New York and expressed optimism that a summit could happen and announced additional conditions for the meetings.

Brexit Secretary David Davis is crafting a Brexit plan to give joint UK and European Union status to Northern Ireland that would allow both to trade freely, per Reuters, citing local reports.

The details: The proposal would also include so-called buffer zones along the border to remove checkpoints. Davis’ plan comes after British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would pull the UK out of the EU customs union. One of her plans allows the UK and EU to have separate customs areas while using technology to reduce costs and ongoing disagreements at the border. The other would impose tariffs “with no requirement of declarations of goods crossing the border,” per Reuters.

The special counsel's investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 election has cost nearly $17 million to date, since Robert Mueller was appointed to lead the probe in May of last year, according to new spending report released Thursday by the Justice Department.

By the numbers: $10 million was spent on expenses incurred between October 2017 through March of this year, detailing that $2.7 million was expended for salaries and benefits, $532,340 was expended for travel, and $264,114 was expended for contractual services. The department had previously said $6.7 million was used between May and September of last year. Mueller’s office told Politico in a statement that its spending was "within the approved budget."

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting with North Korean Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol in New York, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed optimism about the planned summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He added that the two sides have "made real progress in the last 72 hours towards setting the conditions" of the June 12 meeting.

The big picture: Pompeo signaled that the United States' hopes for the meeting had not changed, saying that the end goal was "both denuclearization that the world demands, and security assurances [from North Korea that] would be required for us to achieve [denuclearization.]"

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who dominated coverage early on with their unparalleled Oval Office access and various business and political controversies, now are out of the spotlight for long stretches.

What's happening: Leaks of their views, feuds or demands have abated. A talkative enemy, Steve Bannon, is gone — as are allies Dina Powell and Gary Cohn. And they have largely lived by Chief of Staff John Kelly’s check-in-with-me-first rules. Inside the White House, their abnormal roles are accepted as reality, though the eye rolling and concerns of conflicts of interests persist.