Trump Set to Confer With Putin as Ukraine Faces Defeat in Kursk

Ukraine faced a sobering defeat Sunday when Russian troops drove the Ukrainian military out from almost all of the Russian region of Kursk.

Ukrainian forces had attacked the Russian province last summer in an attempt to unbalance the Russian army. That strategy appears to have faltered in the face of an unrelenting assault by Russian forces. 

Ukraine now controls about 30 square miles of Kursk territory from a high of 500 square miles less than a year ago. Russia deployed drones and troops from North Korea to implement the successful reclamation of its territory.

While the Ukrainian retreat is a blow to the country’s war effort, it is remarkable that the Eastern European nation was able to hold out for so long.

Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow with the Allison Center for National Security of The Heritage Foundation, explained how reality differed greatly from Russian expectations. 

“When Ukraine launched its sunrise offensive into Kursk last August, Putin declared they would be expelled in days … seven months later, they finally left,” Sadler said. 

All eyes will be on the current situation on the ground in the Ukraine-Russia war as President Donald Trump attempts to broker a peace deal. The American president is expected to speak Tuesday with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart. 

“The increased military combat operations by both sides in recent weeks should be seen as setting the negotiating table—a battle for favorable position when both sides agree to end the fighting,” Sadler told The Daily Signal.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised Trump’s efforts at brokering a deal earlier this month. 

“What President Trump is doing to secure peace in this dangerous world is an act of moral leadership and, I believe, divinely inspired. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God,’” Cornyn said on the Senate floor. 

Negotiating the end of the conflict could take months. On Feb. 28, a heated exchange broke out between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump and Vice President JD Vance over the U.S.’s contributions to the war effort in Ukraine.

For his part, Trump has urged European leaders to undertake more investment in their collective defense. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that Europe would bear “cost and burden of securing the peace.”

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, contended that Russia must withdraw from Ukraine as part of any peace deal. 

“As a part of any peace negotiations, Russia must withdraw from Ukraine—period. If peace is not negotiated quickly, the Ukrainian people will continue to suffer, and Putin will be emboldened to continue perpetrating his evil,” the Pennsylvania congressman said in a statement posted to X. 

According to Sadler, “This phase of negotiations is likely to last into June-July, when rains and historically sticky Ukrainian mud slows any military offenses then.”

Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy to the Middle East, recently returned from Russia, where he had discussed with Putin a 30-day ceasefire in the war. 

“Sadly, more fighting is coming before negotiations begin in earnest. Let’s hope Putin gives Trump something meaningful to avoid this, but the odds are long on that,” Sadler explained to The Daily Signal. 

He recommended that the Trump administration apply pressure on Russia and its allies to get a desirable settlement.

“All told, it’s time to up the pressure on the Russians and their supporters in Tehran, Beijing, and Pyongyang. Only by alienating Russia and turning up the pressure on Putin will he enter meaningful negotiations,” Sadler said. 

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