As we’ve been reporting today, Russia’s attack on Sumy came not even 48 hours after Donald Trump’s envoy met Vladimir Putin for talks.
Steve Witkoff spoke with Putin for four hours on Friday, Russian state media reported, in the latest round of talks between Washington and Moscow.
While Witkoff may “have the desire for peace”, he is not an “experienced peace negotiator”, Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow for the Atlantic Council thinktank, told us.
She also believes the attack on Sumy was a “signal” to the rest of the world, given it came so soon after Witkoff’s talks with Putin.
“If Russia were a country willing to show goodwill, it would be very easy not to strike Ukraine,” she said, speaking to our presenter Barbara Serra.
“It is an incredibly provocative act, one that Russia didn’t need to conduct for any military reasons.
“This was a signal to Ukraine, to the Americans and to the rest of the world.”