Ukrainian troops have little hope for peace as Trump deadline for Russia arrives

Ukrainian servicemen (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Ukrainian soldiers have expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war with Russia, as Donald Trump’s deadline for the Kremlin to stop the killing arrived and he eyed a possible meeting with Vladimir Putin to discuss the conflict.

Mr Trump, exasperated that the Russian leader did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia, as well as introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil, if no Kremlin moves towards a settlement were forthcoming.