But four months into his term, peace not only remains elusive but he's saying he could soon "back away" from being involved. His comment came hours after his highly-anticipated phone call Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no breakthrough -- even though Trump had earlier suggested it could.

By Tom Balmforth, Andreas Rinke and John Irish KYIV/BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) -For Ukraine and its allies, who spent months trying to win Donald Trump over to their cause in the war started by Russia, it is back to square one.

After Trump’s third phone call with Putin since his inauguration, it appears there will be no let up in fighting and less U.S. pressure on Moscow.

In September 2022, Moscow claimed to have annexed the four Ukrainian regions and to this day it does not fully control them. Putin illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Kyiv has repeatedly rejected any suggestion it would surrender the regions.

The Kremlin has withstood pressure for an immediate cease-fire as a precondition for peace talks, but the Russian president’s push for normalizing relations with the United States appears in limbo.

Moscow’s proposal for peace talks backfired as Ukraine’s European allies persuaded Zelensky to accept U.S. cease-fire plan.