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.

News alerts lit up phones across Kyiv on Sunday night after former President Donald Trump made a brief but cryptic comment on a tarmac in Palm Beach, Florida. The president stated that discussions involving Ukraine and Russia are "making progress.