Russia Defies Trumps Peace Calls

Trump's one-sided pressure on Ukraine is working out as one might have expected, not at all.

I one of its biggest attacks in the war, Russia Launches Massive Aerial Assaults on Ukraine.

Russia stepped up missile-and-drone assaults on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and other regions, killing at least 12 people overnight into Sunday after President Trump last week declined to impose further sanctions on Moscow over its refusal to halt its invasion.

Russia attacked with a total of 367 drones and missiles—one of the largest single-night raids of the war, according to the Ukrainian Air Force—in a second consecutive day of pounding strikes that sent civilians running for shelters in the middle of the night. Officials said that children were among those killed by the strikes and that a further 60 were injured and more than 80 residential buildings damaged across the country, even as more than 300 of the missiles and drones were shot down.

The increased ferocity of Russia's assaults comes days after Trump demurred on threats to sanction Russia further if it didn't sign an immediate, 30-day cease-fire. In a two-hour call with Trump last week, Putin refused a truce that Kyiv consented to in March. Trump has publicly insisted that Putin wants peace, but in a call with European leaders this week, conceded that Putin isn't ready for peace, The Wall Street Journal reported, because he believes he is winning.

Trump last week said that Ukraine and Russia should continue negotiations over a peace deal among themselves—talks that so far have yielded only one tangible result: a three-day exchange of around 1,000 prisoners from each side that concluded Sunday.

Trump "Truths" and Tweets (Emphasis in bold is mine)

January 26, 2023, 7:06 PM: IF I WERE PRESIDENT, THE RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED, BUT EVEN NOW, IF PRESIDENT, I WOULD BE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE AN END TO THIS HORRIBLE AND RAPIDLY ESCALATING WAR WITHIN 24 HOURS. SUCH A TRAGIC WASTE OF HUMAN LIFE!!!

February 7, 2023, 9:39 PM: We wouldn't have had the War with Russia and Ukraine if I were President. I could also end it in 24 hours—which is what should happen!

May 21, 2023, 7:37 AM: An agreement must be reached, immediately, between Russia and Ukraine. The right person can get it done in 24 hours. DO IT!

June 15, 2024, 6:39 PM: "I will have that settled prior to taking the White House as President-Elect."