Trump has repeatedly admonished Putin for Russia's nightly strikes on Ukrainian cities. Nonetheless, the president told reporters he was still hopeful of progress towards a peace deal.

Political messages don’t get much blunter than the Russian missiles that slammed into an American-owned manufacturing firm overnight Wednesday in western Ukraine, hundreds of miles away from the frontline trenches of a war with no end in sight.

President Donald Trump warned he is ready to impose economic sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin rejects a Ukraine ceasefire, calling it an “economic war” while pressing for direct peace talks with Kyiv.