That will take some doing. Putin remains uninterested in peace talks as long as Russian troops continue to gain ground in Ukraine’s east, albeit at a slow pace, and while Ukrainian forces hold seized territory in the Kursk region inside Russia, according to John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and other former officials.

Iulian Bulai, head of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), warns, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, that there is a real possibility that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could strike a deal behind the backs of both Ukraine and Europe,

President Donald Trump says his administration has already had “very serious” discussions with Russia about its war in Ukraine and that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could soon take “significant” action toward ending the grinding conflict.