The war in Ukraine and the existential threat that Russia poses to European security has topped NATO’s agenda in each of its summits since 2022.

But halting progress, ever-more deadly drone attacks and unmoving negotiating positions seem to have taken their toll. On Thursday, Trump used a striking analogy to concede the warfare was nowhere near over, and that he did not, at that moment, feel it was best to intervene.

President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. In an Oval Office meeting Thursday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,