Ukraine Pays in Lives as U.S.-Russia Business Looms

Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least four people and injured dozens, including children, while Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy met U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and European officials in Norway to ease tensions with President Donald Trump. The strikes hit a main highway during rush hour. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was losing people and time as Russia attacked.

Who Pays

Andrii Pakhalovych, a coffee shop owner, said through an interpreter that Ukraine needed weapons to defend its power and heating plants. “If Trump wanted to, he would have given us at least those weapons long ago so that we could defend ourselves, so that we could protect our power and heating plants. In a month, we'll have freezing temperatures. What are people supposed to do?”

The Norway meeting followed disruptions in U.S. support. Restrictions on SpaceX services forced Ukraine to slow down and lose connections to its drones. Ukraine also accused the United States of withholding air defense missiles and intelligence used in its air alert system. The U.S. blamed a technical fault, and Zelenskyy said the early warning system worked again.

“Hear when ballistic is coming, so we are thankful to American side. Now it works. It's great,” Zelenskyy said.

Several European officials said a U.S. program selling weapons to European countries for transfer to Ukraine continued to operate, but air defense interceptors remained in short supply. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We haven't changed our posture in any way toward the Ukrainians. But certainly with things like interceptors, we want to make sure our guys have the most possible as well.”

Weapons, Sanctions and Business

Trump described U.S. aid as an exchange in which Washington had received little in return. “Look, we have given tremendous amounts to Ukraine. We've got nothing back, other than high diesel.” The report said the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran had also driven diesel prices higher.

Ukrainian and other European officials feared Witkoff and the Trump administration increasingly saw Russian President Vladimir Putin as a partner in peace and business. David Kramer, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state and executive director of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas, said Russia had dangled improved U.S.-Russian relations, including business deals and nuclear negotiations. He said Putin had proposed a possible summit in Beijing the following month, when Trump was due to travel there for a major international conference.

Kramer said Ukrainians would struggle to accept a meeting between Putin, Chinese leader Xi and Trump to discuss Ukraine without Ukraine. Putin, he said, had refused to negotiate an end to the war and sought to bring Ukraine under Russia's control, destroy its identity and remove its duly elected government. Kramer also said Putin wanted to deny Ukraine the choice of joining NATO or the European Union and reduce its military.

Diplomacy and Pressure

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the meeting aimed “to straighten out a few things and to agree that what matters now is to look ahead.” Finland's President Alex Stubb said, “We have actually made a lot of progress. Under the radar in the past week or so. And now I feel that the process is back on track.”

Kramer described the U.S.-Ukraine relationship as strained. He cited the Feb. 28, 2025, White House blowup between Trump and Zelenskyy, followed by improved relations and U.S. sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, which he described as the two largest Russian energy companies. He said disruptions to intelligence provision and Starlink and Starshield services had cost Ukrainian lives as Russia continued to strike civilian targets.

Kramer called for tighter sanctions, action against the shadow fleet Russia relies on to fund its war effort, and measures targeting Russian banks, companies and individuals. He also urged military assistance to resume, either through Europeans purchasing U.S. weapons for Ukraine or through direct assistance. Congress passed the Lindsey Graham legislation calling for more sanctions by 86-11 in the Senate and by a sizable margin in the House, he said.

Trump said, “Russia would like to get it done, but Ukraine has to want to settle this war. Zelenskyy has to want to settle this war.” Zelenskyy said, “So, all of us want peace, Ukraine, Europe, United States, and we will see what will be tomorrow. Of course, we're not losing this war, but we are losing people.”