Renewed US efforts fail to halt conflict as hostilities continue across Ukraine
Efforts to secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine have so far yielded little progress, despite renewed diplomatic initiatives by US President Donald Trump in 2025. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, early peace talks in Belarus and Turkey collapsed over disagreements on NATO membership and Ukraine’s military capacity.
Trump’s return to the White House in January reignited attempts at diplomacy. In late February, he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, but the meeting ended abruptly after a public argument. Subsequent US actions, including the suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine in March, aimed to pressure Kyiv into agreeing to terms Moscow demanded. Kyiv consented to a 30-day ceasefire, but Russia rejected it, insisting the “root causes” of the conflict be addressed first.
In the following months, diplomatic momentum faltered. Russia unilaterally implemented a three-day ceasefire in May, while low-level delegations conducted talks in Istanbul later that month. Prisoner exchanges occurred, but no lasting agreements were reached. Additional rounds in June and July failed to produce progress, and a summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin in August ended inconclusively despite claims of a “productive” meeting. European leaders continued to support Zelenskyy, pressing for security guarantees and resisting territorial concessions.
Meanwhile, Russian attacks continue unabated. Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have endured ongoing barrages of drones and missiles, underscoring that, despite months of negotiations, the conflict remains far from resolution.