That will take some doing. Putin remains uninterested in peace talks as long as Russian troops continue to gain ground in Ukraine’s east, albeit at a slow pace, and while Ukrainian forces hold seized territory in the Kursk region inside Russia, according to John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and other former officials.

A shortage of infantry troops and supply routes under Russian drone attacks have dealt a blow to Ukrainian forces around the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy warns that peace negotiations with Russia organized by the Trump administration and held without Ukraine would be 'very dangerous.'