DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine: Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war with Russia, as US President Donald Trump’s Friday deadline for the Kremlin to make peace arrived and he eyed a possible summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.
Trump, exasperated that Putin didn’t heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia, as well as introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil, if no Kremlin moves toward a settlement were forthcoming. It was unclear what steps Trump intended to take Friday.
Trump’s efforts to pressure Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia’s bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace.
Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk city area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia looks to break out from there into the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages.
