Putin Pauses Strikes on Kyiv as Trump Envoys Visit Russia and Ukraine

Trump has repeatedly stated that ending the Russia-Ukraine war is a major priority of his Administration, but the reality of that aim has proven difficult. 

In August 2025, the U.S. President met his Russian counterpart in Anchorage, Alaska, to pursue a ceasefire agreement. The talks proved unsuccessful, and Trump left empty-handed.

In October 2025, Trump and Putin planned to meet in Budapest in hopes of furthering peace talks. But the summit was canceled just a few days after the summit was announced after Russia indicated that its hard-line stance on the war had not shifted.

“It just didn’t feel right to me,” Trump said at the time. “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get. So I canceled it.”

Strain between Trump and Zelensky also impeded progress. In February 2025, Oval Office talks collapsed within minutes when the U.S. President accused Zelensky of being “ungrateful” for U.S. aid and refusing to agree to a ceasefire without security assurances. In the 18 months since, however, that tension has largely dissipated, with Trump saying at this year’s NATO summit that the two had “actually developed a good relationship.”