US President Donald Trump has ditched his call for a ceasefire in Ukraine, backing instead Russian President Vladimir Putin’s push for a permanent peace agreement. That has not stopped some European leaders from pushing for a temporary truce first,

As Trump pushes for peace, Ukraine accuses Russia of a deadly drone and missile strike, "as if there were no efforts by the world to stop this war."

When President Trump was flying to Alaska to meet Vladimir Putin, he said the goal was a ceasefire. But after they talked, Trump aligned himself with Putin and downplayed the need for a truce.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday pressed for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine before President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet.

The Russian leader has been under mounting pressure to meet with Mr Zelenskyy in recent days, after European leaders gathered at the White House to find a path to peace. At the summit, which included Donald Trump, Mr Zelenskyy and Sir Keir Starmer, plans were drawn up for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the United States.

President Trump is pushing for direct talks between Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. However, there has been no word directly from Russia that Putin has said yes. Foreign Policy Editor-in-chief Ravi Agrawal and former U.

The net effect of the Alaska summit was to give President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a free pass to continue his war against his neighbor indefinitely without further penalty, pending talks on a broader peace deal.

Former NBC host Chuck Todd argued on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a "huge miscalculation" not giving President Donald Trump a "win" during the Alaska peace summit this week.