But halting progress, ever-more deadly drone attacks and unmoving negotiating positions seem to have taken their toll. On Thursday, Trump used a striking analogy to concede the warfare was nowhere near over, and that he did not, at that moment, feel it was best to intervene.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected President Donald Trump’s idea that Russia and Ukraine are like kids at the playground who would be better off fighting for a while before being pulled apart.