But halting progress, ever-more deadly drone attacks and unmoving negotiating positions seem to have taken their toll. On Thursday, Trump used a striking analogy to concede the warfare was nowhere near over, and that he did not, at that moment, feel it was best to intervene.

In a dramatic analogy, U.S. President Donald Trump compared the Russia-Ukraine war to a children's brawl, saying it's better to “let them fight for a while” before peace is enforced. During his Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,