US President Donald Trump, desperate for foreign policy accomplishments to tout at the 100 day mark of his administration next week, showed reluctance again today to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for failing to agree to a U.S. proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, even after Russia rained missiles and drones on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, leveling an apartment building and killing a dozen civilians and wounding over 90 people.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform this morning. “Not necessary and bad timing.

“Vladimir, STOP!” Trump pleaded. “Let’s get the peace deal done.”

But this afternoon, meeting with visiting Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store at the White House, Trump continued to insist that he thought Putin wanted a peace deal and refused to consider imposing additional US pressure on Russia for obstructing a deal.

“What concessions has Russia offered up thus far to get to the point where you’re closer to peace?” a reporter asked Trump this afternoon.

“Stopping the war,” Trump said, against all evidence. “Stopping taking the whole country. Pretty big concession.”

Even Trump-friendly Fox News, as well as several conservative and military commentators, expressed the view that Trump is getting played by Putin, and mystification at Trump’s seeming desperation to pretend otherwise.

Trump “keeps pounding [Ukrainian President] Zelenskyy and saying it’s harder to deal with him than it is with Putin,” Fox News chief political commentator Brit Hume told Fox’s Brett Baier on Wednesday. “Putin, so far as I can tell, hasn’t agreed to much of anything. …He’d love to annex Crimea, which is part of the proposal that’s before him now. ..That’s no concession.”

“Last night, after failed peace talks, Putin ordered a massive assault on civilians across Ukraine. This was not a military action. It was mass murder,” Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania, wrote on Twitter.

“Putin doesn’t want peace,” Fitzpatrick continued. “He’s stalled every negotiation.”

“These missile strikes against Ukrainian civilians are a big ‘F U’ to the Administration’s efforts,” retired General Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the US Army in Europe, wrote on Twitter today. “They only respect strength. The Kremlin has zero respect for this Administration.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, gaggling with reporters after meeting Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House this afternoon, credited Trump with trying to bring Russia’s war on Ukraine to a close. But he indicated that he saw Ukraine as being the party being willing to cooperate and Russia the one to date not.

“There is something on the table now, I think, where the Ukrainians are really playing ball, and I think the ball is clearly on the Russian court now,” Rutte said.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Putin in Russia on Friday, and is reportedly expected to ask Putin to consider a US peace proposal that would have Russia recognize Ukraine’s right to self-defense and maintaining a military.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio backed out of attending talks with the Ukrainians and Europeans held in London Wednesday, where US Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg discussed a European and Ukrainian counterproposal to an an extremely Russia-friendly US peace proposal that would have the US recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and promise never to support Ukraine joining NATO. (See the terms of the US proposal and European/Ukrainian counterproposal, reported by Reuters.)

Ukrainians, editorialists, as well as political cartoonists took to social media to express revulsion at the US administration’s craven posture towards to Moscow.

“Teenagers had been waiting since 5amm for their 17 year old classmate to be found under the rubble after the deadly Russian attack,” the Kyiv City of Courage twitter account wrote. “But after 12 hours of search and rescue, his body was retrieved from the debris.”

“The boy’s mother was also killed in a strike,” the Kyiv post continued. His father—killed by Russia on the front line. The only one who’s left is his 14 year old sister, who is now in the hospital.”

“Trump’s election campaign boast that he could strike a peace deal in 24 hours beggared belief,” the Financial Times editorial board wrote. “So has the incompetence and cynicism of his administration as it scrambles to land a settlement.

Political cartoonist Mike Luckovich posted:

The NYDaily News’ Bill Bramhall posted:

“What powerful pressure!” Ukrainian anti corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk mocked Trump. “Beautiful concessions!”

Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-Florida) mocked Trump’s Truth Social post imploring Putin to stop pounding Ukraine, posting a photo of the Xanax-popping Parker Posey character from White Lotus Season 3, mouthing, “Vladimir, noooo.”

(Photo at top of US President Trump meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Store at the White House on April 24, 2025, posted by White House Special Assistant and Communications Advisor Margo Martin to Twitter.)

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