Germany, France, the U.K. and Poland outmaneuvered the Kremlin by persuading Ukraine’s Zelensky to accept Trump’s cease-fire demand. Russia’s leader balked.

Kyiv accused the Kremlin of introducing new “unacceptable demands” to withdraw Ukrainian forces from huge swaths of territory, collapsing the talks.

The first direct peace talks in years between Kyiv and Moscow ended on May 16 with Russia once again rejecting an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. In turn, Russia demanded that Ukrainian troops leave four of the country's regions,