The Kremlin said on Friday that the war in Ukraine was an existential question for Russia, after U.S. President Donald Trump likened it to a playground fight.

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.