It has been a few weeks since the Gaza board of peace plan was enacted and the ceasefire in Gaza has held quite well to date. Trump’s hopes of a steadfast move to negotiate a Ukraine ceasefire saw its hopes dashed as Putin withdrew from their proposed peace summit in Budapest.

The breakdown of these talks has serious implications for the ongoing Russo-Ukraine War which saw more loss of life in the recent days. As Shaheena Uddin has found ‘The intended summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold on Wednesday after Moscow refused to budge on its red lines for ending the war in Ukraine. Trump said on Tuesday that he did not want to have a "wasted meeting" with Putin after officials concluded that the gap between the two sides was too big to begin negotiations … Despite rejecting Trump’s calls for a ceasefire, Russia said it was committed to a peace deal in a private communication with the US in what is known as a “non-paper”, according to US officials. In this document, Russia demanded full control of the eastern Donbas region. Moscow already controls all of the province of Luhansk and around 75 per cent of neighbouring Donetsk, which both make up the Donbas. Putin has previously been unwilling to consider giving up any territory it occupies, and Moscow has frequently demanded that Ukraine agree to cede more territory before any ceasefire … Russia has also blamed Kyiv and its European allies of repeatedly thwarting peace talks … the Ukrainian President has accused Russia of “once again doing everything it can to abandon diplomacy". He added that "as soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” - referring to the US provision of Tomahawks.’ (The Independent.2025) As Uddin has found, the planned Trump-Putin summit was postponed after major disagreements over ending the Ukraine war. Russia’s “non-paper” demanded full control of Donbas while also rejecting Trump’s proposed ceasefire. Ukraine has also accused Russia of avoiding diplomacy as U.S. long-range weapons support increased.

Fresh attacks on Ukraine from the Russian government also followed the breakdown of the summit, with reports of casualties in Kharkiv and further bombardment of Kyiv. Paul Kirby and John Sudworth have identified how ‘At least seven people have been killed including two children during intense Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, officials say. A kindergarten was hit in Ukraine's second biggest city Kharkiv and there was widespread damage in Kyiv. Children were among the 27 people wounded. Hours earlier, US President Donald Trump said his plans for an imminent summit in Budapest with Russia's Vladimir Putin had been shelved as he did not want a "wasted meeting". President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks proved Moscow had not come under enough pressure for its continued war. The Kremlin has rejected calls for a ceasefire along the current front lines made both by Trump and European leaders … Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and its attacks on the Ukrainian capital overnight were the first such strikes for almost two weeks. (BBC.2025) As Kirby and Sudworth have found, continued escalation in the Russo-Ukraine War has followed the breakdown of peace talks. The attacks in Kyiv were the first in two weeks, and hopes of resolving the ongoing conflict in the coming months looks increasingly unlikely.

The collapse of the Trump-Putin summit deepens tensions and stalls prospects for a Ukraine ceasefire. Russia’s renewed assaults on Ukrainian cities highlight its unwillingness to compromise or pursue diplomacy. With the peace efforts faltering, the path toward ending the Russo-Ukraine War appears increasingly uncertain.