With provocative video, Vladimir Putin raises nuclear stakes

The competing moves came after US President Donald Trump canceled plans for a summit with Putin, saying he did not want a “wasted” meeting, days after announcing plans to meet in Hungary on the war in Ukraine.

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Trump appeared willing to discuss ceasefire terms, but Putin insisted that an agreement be reached that would confirm Russia’s dominance of the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, as well as Crimea and other parts of the country; Ukraine rejects this view.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Trump last week that he could not accept Russia’s claims and has since turned to European leaders to win more support in hopes of intensifying military pressure on Putin.

Trump AEDT on Thursday cited a lack of diplomatic progress and a sense that the timing was wrong to cancel the summit.

“It didn’t seem right to me,” he said. “I didn’t feel like we were going to get where we needed to go. That’s why I canceled it, but we will do it in the future.”

“All I can say in honesty is that every time I talk to Vladimir [Putin]I have nice conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. “They’re not going anywhere.”

The rhetoric of reaching a peace agreement for Ukraine, which rose even further after the ceasefire in Gaza last week, has been replaced by displays of military power on both sides of the European war.

A Russian drone strike hit a kindergarten in Kharkiv, killing one person and wounding seven others, the Ukrainian government said in the latest round of overnight attacks.

“Frankly, Russia is becoming more and more arrogant,” Zelensky said.

“These attacks are Russia’s spit on everyone who insists on a peaceful solution. Bandits and terrorists can only be put in place by force.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced new sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as dozens of subsidiaries, at AEDT on Thursday.

“Now is the time to stop the killings and establish an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said. Given Putin’s “refusal to end this senseless war, the Treasury is imposing sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies that finance the Kremlin’s war machine.”

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Bessent said the Treasury Department is prepared to take further action, if necessary, to support Trump’s efforts to end the war. “We encourage our allies to join us and comply with these sanctions.”

He made the comments while NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington to meet Trump.

So far, Trump has shied away from sanctions as a way to pressure Moscow about war; Instead, it relied on trade measures, including 25 percent tariffs on goods from India in retaliation for its purchase of Russian oil.

Trump said he hoped the new sanctions, which came after Britain imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil last week, would remain in effect for a long time.

The Russian embassy in Washington and the Russian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new U.S. sanctions.

Meanwhile, European leaders plan to show their support for Ukraine at the European Union summit council meeting on Thursday, Brussels time, and at the “Coalition of the Volunteers” meeting in London on Friday.

Although the coalition was originally brought together by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss options for keeping the peace in the event of a ceasefire, it has become a forum to negotiate further military support for Ukraine.

One of the main goals of the European Council meeting, a regular forum for leaders of member states, is to agree on a loan worth 140 billion euros ($250 billion) to Ukraine, using frozen Russian assets as collateral.

Ukraine wants to buy more Patriot missile defense systems from the United States to defend its territory, but Trump rejected its request for Tomahawk missiles that could hit targets deep inside Russia.

Putin strongly opposed the sale of Tomahawks and followed up by showcasing Russia’s nuclear capabilities by conducting long-range missile launches from land, sea and air.

Zelensky met with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday to sign an agreement to purchase Gripen fighter jets capable of hitting targets in Russia.

“Everyone can see what threats these help to counter. We expect the future contract to allow us to purchase at least 100 of these jets,” Zelensky said.

AP via Reuters