A planned exchange of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war failed to take place on Saturday, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of postponing the swap at the last minute, which Ukrainian officials dismissed as more “dirty games” from the Kremlin.

Russia claims Ukraine indefinitely postponed the release while Kyiv maintains it has been delayed until next week.

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.

President Donald Trump says it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace.

Donald Trump and his team have spent a fair amount of time recently trying to convince the public that the president’s policy toward Russia’s war in Ukraine is having a positive impact. In mid-March,