Ukraine Endures Devastating Russian Strikes on Civilian and Energy Targets Following Trump’s Postponement of Putin Summit
On Wednesday, Russia launched a widespread assault across Ukraine, targeting power plants, a kindergarten, and other locations, resulting in six deaths. This intense offensive occurred just hours after former President Trump announced he was postponing a scheduled meeting with President Vladimir Putin, citing concerns it would be a “wasted” attempt to broker peace.
Late last week, Mr. Trump had indicated a forthcoming meeting with Mr. Putin in Hungary to further peace negotiations. However, by Tuesday, following consultations between American and Russian representatives, the White House confirmed that no such summit would take place “in the immediate future.”
The Trump administration’s decision to delay the summit came after Russian officials firmly rejected any compromise on their demands for ending the invasion of Ukraine, once more dismissing a cease-fire proposal that would freeze existing front lines.
Harrowing video footage released by authorities on Wednesday depicted emergency personnel rescuing young children from a burning kindergarten in Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine. This attack on the preschool facility claimed one life and left several others injured, according to official reports.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the overnight attacks, stating they reveal Russia “clearly doesn’t feel enough pressure to stop prolonging the war.”
This widespread Russian bombardment led to power rationing for industries across the country and sudden blackouts for residents in various regions, including Kyiv. The timing of these strikes aligns with a recurring pattern where Russia launches significant attacks on Ukraine following key diplomatic junctures involving the Trump administration. Additionally, on Wednesday, the Kremlin reported that Russia conducted nuclear weapons drills, featuring test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
On Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky once again stressed Ukraine’s urgent need for additional long-range weaponry, essential for creating leverage to compel Moscow to cease its invasion. His meeting with Mr. Trump at the White House last Friday, however, concluded without the anticipated agreement to acquire American long-range missiles.
Despite publicly endorsing Mr. Trump’s peace initiatives, Ukrainian officials have consistently maintained that Moscow will only cease its aggression if Kyiv possesses the capacity for effective retaliation.
Ukrainian analysts expressed optimism that Mr. Trump might be starting to see through Mr. Putin’s strategy of drawing out American involvement with high-profile meetings that consistently yield minimal progress. Russian officials had enthusiastically received the summit proposal for Budapest after Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Putin, which took place the day before his meeting with Mr. Zelensky.
Mykhailo Samus, director of the independent New Geopolitics Research Network in Kyiv, remarked, “Trump realized that this meeting would be a catastrophe, and he would gain nothing but shame. But the question is, what is next? Will Putin be able to get him to such a meeting again?”
Mr. Samus further emphasized, “It is important for President Trump to understand that a Nobel Peace Prize is possible only by pressuring Putin, not by shouting at Zelensky.”
Mr. Trump has frequently displayed a noticeable deference to Mr. Putin. The American president has yet to act on his stated threats to impose penalties on Russia for its continued refusal to end the war. Furthermore, despite Kremlin warnings, he has withheld the provision of American Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv.
Nevertheless, apparently buoyed by his success in brokering a cease-fire in Gaza and consistently pursuing his ambition for a Nobel Prize, Mr. Trump has sought to reinvigorate a Ukrainian peace process that had stalled since his summer meeting with Mr. Putin in Alaska.
Although Mr. Zelensky’s talks with Mr. Trump last week did not yield new weapons, he did secure ongoing U.S. backing for Kyiv’s stance on territorial integrity. Moscow, meanwhile, has indicated its insistence on Ukraine surrendering the eastern Donetsk region currently under Ukrainian control, a condition Kyiv considers unacceptable.
On Thursday, Mr. Zelensky is scheduled to meet with European leaders in Denmark to garner further support. European nations have stepped up as Ukraine’s main allies since Mr. Trump ceased direct American assistance, and they have joined Ukraine in advocating for an immediate cease-fire along the current battle lines.
Mr. Trump’s agenda included a Wednesday meeting in Washington with Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, where Ukraine was expected to be a key topic.
According to analyst Mr. Samus, since this past spring, Russia’s primary objective in any talks has been to postpone cease-fire agreements and prevent the United States from supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons.
While Mr. Putin has mostly achieved this goal to date, Mr. Samus suggests that the delayed Budapest meeting indicates the Russian president’s repeated diplomatic stalling tactics might be losing their effectiveness.
Mr. Zelensky also directly criticized Russia’s tactics.
“Russia continues to do everything it can to avoid genuine diplomatic engagement,” he stated on Tuesday. “As soon as the prospect of long-range capabilities for Ukraine became less pressing, Russia’s interest in diplomacy seemed to vanish almost immediately.”