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.

In an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the Russia-Ukraine war to a fight between children who hate each other. He also said that he communicated the same to Putin in the call.