Trump seems blind to the need to put pressure on Putin

The Ukraine war grinds on despite Donald Trump’s vainglorious promise to end it within a day, or at least by Easter. At the weekend, dozens were killed and more than 100 injured in a strike on the northern town of Sumy. Two Iskander missiles landed in the busy city centre, one of which hit a trolley bus filled with passengers.

The attack came as worshippers headed to church, with Ukrainian officials saying the weapons were packed with cluster munitions, designed to take as many lives as possible by scattering hundreds of small fragments on impact.

It is another miserable episode in a conflict that began more than three years ago with Russia’s invasion, but which has really been going on in the east since 2014.

The attack came just a day after President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a ceasefire.

Mr Trump described the missile strike as “a mistake”, causing outrage in Ukraine at his apparent willingness to appease the Russian leader whatever he does. Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said: “It is a very disturbing statement which both encourages Putin to continue atrocities and demonstrates that someone in Trump’s entourage is pushing Russian narratives.”

The truth is that it is not necessary for someone else to put Russia’s side because Mr Trump seems happy to do it himself. He is right to say that the carnage needs to end and a ceasefire leading to peace is the only way that can happen. But he appears to want a deal whatever the cost to Ukraine and with few concessions from the Kremlin.

Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging out this war. Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible.”

But where is that coming from now? Mr Trump’s evident anxiety to secure an agreement with Moscow is blinding him to the need to ratchet up the pressure on Putin.

Ukraine has agreed to a White House plan for a 30-day pause in the fighting but Russia has refused. Putin has made numerous additional demands, while at the same time escalating military action and strikes on civilian targets.

New figures suggest that Russia has suffered close to one million casualties in the war. It is delusional to think it will agree to peace terms without extracting the maximum price from Ukraine.