NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised President Trump during a White House meeting on Monday for "breaking the deadlock" of the Ukraine War by starting a dialogue with Russia. "I really want to thank you,

The brutal Russian attack using strategic bombers came just hours after Putin and Trump spoke on the phone about a potential road to peace in Ukraine.

But, given the pushback he got from the Kremlin, Trump did not have room to promise much more. Last week, after his summit with Putin in Alaska, he had already set aside his main source of leverage over the Russians—the threat of sanctions and tariffs that could weaken Putin’s economy. “We don’t have to think about that right now,” Trump remarked.

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume did not mince words Monday, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “a fool” and saying the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine was an “utter failure” that will ultimately leave him paying a steep price.

Ahead of his meeting with European leaders Monday, Trump put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to end the invasion of his own country by handing over seized territory and dropping his dreams of belonging to the powerful military alliance.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Friday’s summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska will be an important test for Putin.

Trump: “President Zelensky can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight."

President Donald Trump dismissed criticism of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska as "fake news" Sunday night on Truth Social, saying the war in Ukraine could be ended "almost immediately" but critics were making it harder to do so.