Russian President Vladimir Putin is increasingly showing signs of ignoring President Trump’s entreaties to work toward an end to the Ukraine war, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had long warned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s definition of victory in Ukraine has significantly downscaled since the 2022 invasion, from initial ambitions of regime change and “demilitarization” to more limited territorial goals like controlling the Donbas and holding a land bridge to Crimea.