Donald Trump’s efforts to secure peace between Ukraine and Russia are faltering as the Kremlin puts peace talks on “pause”. In a call with reporters this Friday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said: “Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through channels. But for now, it is probably more accurate to talk about a pause. You can’t wear rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results.”
Despite a high-profile meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska last month, Russia has continued its offensive, seizing more territory and escalating missile strikes, including a recent attack on Ukraine in which Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Putin has effectively dismissed the possibility of meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, who maintains that a summit is crucial to ending the war. Kremlin insists any talks could only be held in Moscow – a condition Kyiv is highly unlikely to accept.
The US president told reporters that he was “not happy” about the situation in the region, but added that it would “hopefully” come to an end soon. “Could have been a mistake, could have been a mistake,” Trump said at the White House on Thursday.
“But regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation. Hopefully, it’s going to come to an end.”
Poland rejected the claims. “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X.
On Tuesday night, Polish and Dutch fighter jets were deployed after Russia launched missiles and drones toward Ukraine, with around 19 crossing into Polish airspace. Dutch F-35s intercepted two, while three others fell under unclear circumstances. No casualties were reported.
The incursion seemed to be an effort by Putin to gauge NATO’s air defences and assess how far the alliance would go in responding to provocations, including potentially invoking the Article 5 mutual-defense clause.