Leading European powers have not been happy with President Trump's peace efforts which included him meeting President Putin in Alaska earlier this month, nor have they been thrilled at the prospect of a Putin-Zelensky meeting to try and strike a peace deal.
But now they look to be getting their wish amid the stalled talks and simultaneous ratcheting war. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz remarked Thursday it was now "obvious" that a meeting between Zelensky would not happen.
Merz said while at a presser beside France's President Macron their cabinets would talk about the Ukraine war "in light of the fact that there will obviously not be a meeting between President Zelensky and President Putin, unlike what was agreed between President Trump and President Putin last week when we were together in Washington."
Overnight and early Thursday hours saw Russia unleash the second largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the conflict began, which included almost 600 missiles and drones, and which unleashed devastation particularly in Kiev. The capital saw at least 18 killed, including several children - and dozens of injuries.
Clearly, any earlier hopes that a direct meeting between the two leaders might lead to de-escalation or a possible ceasefire have proven overly optimistic, given Russia has ramped up its military offensives, which it says is retaliation for constant cross-border attacks on energy sites and factories from Ukraine.
And meanwhile the White House has done nothing to slow the arms pipeline to Ukraine's military, but instead...
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As for Mertz fresh comments, he accused Putin of purposefully derailing the possibility of talks, saying the fresh Thursday missile assault "was not a spontaneous reaction to interventions by Zelensky, but obviously a manufactured escalation."
There was damage done to EU and British diplomatic buildings in Kiev, and London and Brussels summoning Russian ambassadors to condemn the attacks.
But the reality is that Putin and Zelensky were no closer to finalizing a deal, despite Trump's interventions, given Russia's demands remain maximal, and Zelensky won't give up any territory - despite Russian forces winning on the ground.