When President Donald Trump returned to office, he was laboring under a fundamental misconception about the war in Ukraine.

Donald Trump has been urged to pressure Russia with further sanctions, after Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky warned Vladimir Putin is “trying to buy time” to continue his war.The US president insisted progress had been made after his two-hour call with the Russian president on Monday.

"It's a mess," Oleksandr Merezhko, the chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told Newsweek.

The United States has not stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine. The United States is also cooperating with NATO countries on this issue, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio was asked whether the administration of US President Donald Trump was ready to pass an additional bill on military aid to Ukraine.

The United States has not stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine, but there are currently no decisions on forming new packages.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

In September 2022, Moscow claimed to have annexed the four Ukrainian regions and to this day it does not fully control them. Putin illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Kyiv has repeatedly rejected any suggestion it would surrender the regions.

Stay informed with SOFREP’s Morning Brief for Monday, May 19, 2025, featuring the latest updates in defense and international affairs.