Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Kyiv was committed to intensive diplomacy to bring a rapid end to the three-year-old war with Russia and stressed that he hoped to be able to rely on U.

The Russia-Ukraine war continues to spell "big trouble" for Moscow regardless of whether Ukraine receives any U.S. military aid, according to retired U.S. Army General Ben Hodges, who said the U.S. freeze could even sting Russia on the battlefield in the long run.

If anyone thought Mr Merz was being alarmist, they were swiftly disabused. On February 24th, on a UN resolution that blamed Russia for invading Ukraine, America voted against its European allies and sided with Russia and North Korea.

Despite the recent flurry of diplomatic activity, analysts say that the prospects of a cease-fire agreement, let alone a peace deal, are still hard to reach and that the three-year war looks set to keep grinding on.

European leaders visited Kyiv to mark the war’s third anniversary. The show of solidarity in Ukraine on Monday comes at a head-spinning moment for the continent.