Russia has sought to separate the war in Ukraine from potential business deals and diplomacy with the United States. Its efforts now appear to be working.
After Russia released an American prisoner, President Trump’s special envoy praised President Vladimir V. Putin as “a humanitarian.” Our White House and national security correspondent, David E. Sanger, describes how the release comes amid Mr. Trump’s broader shift toward Russia and away from Ukraine.
The president called for the return of Stephen James Hubbard, a Michigan teacher seized from his home in Ukraine months after Russia invaded that country.
The series of recent steps by the president that seem to favor Vladimir Putin reflect his intensifying desire to normalize the relationship with Moscow even if it means further undercutting Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he didn’t want to believe that Washington wanted an end to the war at Ukraine’s expense. “But that’s how it looks,” he added.
Damage from a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday. The country has complained about what it describes as lapses in U.S. intelligence sharing before attacks.
The president on Sunday justified his reversal of almost five years of sanctions against Russia as part of peace negotiations. He did not name any hostage.
President Trump wrote on social media on Sunday: “I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”
The Trump administration is ignoring the will of Congress and waiving new Russia sanctions amid fears that high energy prices will cost Republicans in next month’s elections.
Recovering from lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV spoke with Vladimir V. Putin to make a plea for Oleshky, where mines and drones have trapped some 2,000 people who are at risk of starvation.
American officials say they have identified similar influence campaigns by Russia and others in years past, all trying to create discord over contentious topics.
The Ukrainian president’s defiant decision to continue attacking Russian refineries underscores President Trump’s inability to end a war he had promised to resolve.
President Trump during a campaign stop in Alaska on Tuesday. He has not delivered on his promises to end the war in Ukraine, or to lower prices, and recent deals with Russia could complicate both issues.
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