Russia ramped up warnings and shows of force against Ukraine on Tuesday as the Kremlin looks to sway US President Donald Trump in peace talks.
A top Russian official lobbed personal threats against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Moscow accused Kyiv of attacking Vladimir Putin’s residence with drones, an allegation Ukraine denied. Russia also claimed it moved nuclear-capable missiles into active service in Belarus. Kyiv and Moscow are also waging a war to shape Trump’s “perception of the battlefield,” The New York Times wrote.
Putin wants to achieve his war aims through a one-sided peace deal, while Zelenskyy’s goal is “to stop Trump from siding with Putin,” the Financial Times’ Europe editor argued. “It is proving a Sisyphean task.”