Lawmakers use Kremlin’s deadly attacks as latest evidence to convince president he must increase pressure on Putin
Republican supporters of Ukraine are using the Kremlin’s deadly missile strikes as their latest evidence to convince Donald Trump that he must increase pressure on Vladimir Putin if he wants to reach a ceasefire deal.
Pro-Ukraine lawmakers and aides in the Republican party have carefully navigated Trump’s apparent affinity for Putin and avoided direct intervention in their efforts to shift his support toward Kyiv. But following the Russian strikes during Palm Sunday celebrations in the city of Sumy, advisers and allies have been highly vocal in condemning the attack using language meant to resonate with the US president’s conservative, religious base.
President tells NBC ‘there are methods’ in securing a third term despite constitutional barriers
Good morning, and welcome to our US politics blog amid news that Donald Trump is “not joking” about trying to serve a third term.
The comments on Sunday are the clearest indication yet he is considering ways to breach a constitutional barrier against continuing to lead the country after his second term ends at the beginning of 2029.
He elaborated later to reporters on Air Force One from Florida to Washington that “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election, was totally rigged.” Trump lost that election to Joe Biden.
Still, Trump added: “I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we’ve got a long time to go.”
In the same NBC interview as Trump made his Putin and third term comments, he also threatened to bomb Iran, saying that if “they don’t make a deal” to curb their nuclear weapons programme, “there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before”. You can read Iran’s reaction in our Middle East blog.
Elon Musk gave out $1m checks on Sunday to two Wisconsin voters, declaring them spokespeople for his political group, ahead of a Wisconsin supreme court election that the tech billionaire cast as critical to Trump’s agenda and “the future of civilization”. Musk and groups he supports have spent more than $20m to help conservative favourite Brad Schimel in Tuesday’s race, which will determine the ideological makeup of a court likely to decide key issues in a perennial battleground state.
Alexander Stubb – who played golf with Trump this weekend – suggested deadline and US sanctions package
Donald Trump is losing patience with Vladimir Putin’s stalling tactics over the Ukraine ceasefire, the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, said after spending nine hours with the US president – including winning a golf competition with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday.
Stubb, who also spent two days with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, last week in Helsinki suggested in a Guardian interview a plan for a deadline of 20 April, by which time Putin should be required to comply with a full ceasefire.
Stubb pointed out that a third golf partner on Saturday, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham, already has a bill in the US Senate proposing what he has described as “bone-breaking” US sanctions on Russia if it did not accept an unconditional ceasefire.
US president tells NBC he did not like his Russian counterpart questioning Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s credibility
Donald Trump has said he is “very angry, pissed off” with Vladimir Putin for questioning Ukraine’s leadership.
In a sharp change of tone towards Moscow, the US president told an NBC reporter he was angered at his Russian counterpart’s querying of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s credibility.
A Ukrainian sniper practices in the Kharkiv region.
Photo by Liubov Yemets/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
A Ukrainian sniper described how he made the jump from a hunting rifle to a US-made Barrett MRAD sniper rifle.
He told BI that the US-made Barrett had a positive effect on operations.
He said that the Barrett was more accurate than the hunting rifle with which he started the war.
A Ukrainian Special Operations Forces sniper told Business Insider that it made a huge difference in battle when he traded out his civilian hunting rifle for a US-made Barrett MRAD, a weapon the US military embraced years ago for its versatility.
The sniper said that he only used his hunting rifle for a short period in the fall of 2023 before upgrading to the Barrett sniper rifle.
Harley is a Ranger in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces 4th Regiment. He told BI through a translator that when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he went to war with his hunting rifle from US gunmaker Savage Arms. Then he got his hands on the MRAD, or Multi-role Adaptaptive Design, rifle from Barrett Firearms.
Both guns are bolt-action rifles, but Harley described the Savage as a civilian rifle, not a military one. By contrast, the Barrett rifle was created specifically to meet the requirements of a US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, sniper rifle program. Different US service branches have picked up the rifle over the years. The weapon is also used by other militaries, including Ukraine.
A US Army Green Beret does sniper training with a Barrett MRAD rifle in Bulgaria.
US Army photo taken by Sgt. Alejandro Lucero
Harley said that he received the MRAD chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. The interesting thing about the MRAD, though, is that it can be chambered in different calibers. The sniper said he could change out the barrel in training, using cheaper, more readily available .308 ammunition. He said it gives him greater flexibility.
Different calibers support different mission sets, so the ability to change the barrel and caliber of the rifle out in the field is exceptionally advantageous. The US Army has described this rifle as “a multi-caliber, bolt-action sniper rifle, which is effective against personnel and material targets at extreme ranges.”
Harley also praised the Barrett for having a more accurate barrel than the Savage.
“I can say that the rifle is very good,” Harley said of the Barrett. He could not disclose whether he’s had any confirmed kills as a sniper.
A Ukrainian soldier holds a Savage 110 sniper rifle in the Kharkiv region on March 18.
Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images
Harley stressed that it’s not just the weapon that matters in combat. The attachments can make a difference in effectiveness. He can outfit his MRAD rifle with add-ons like thermal imaging attachments, night vision sights, and laser guidance to give him an edge in battle.
“The rifle itself will do nothing without a sight, without a night vision device, without a night observation device,” he said. The Barrett attachments allow him to work during the day and night.
A sniper has a unique ability to send precision fire down range for a kill, typically from concealed positions, but they often support operations in other ways, such as targeting and overwatch. The rifle is a valuable tool in those missions, even if a shot is never fired.
Harley described how he could find a Russian target and highlight it for a fellow soldier operating a Mk 19 grenade launcher, who could then drop a high-explosive round on the Russian target. In other words, the Barrett shouldn’t be viewed as just an individual weapon but rather part of a bigger system of capabilities.
Harley used the Barrett for a year until last fall, when he became an instructor. During his years in active combat operations, he was sent to different sectors of the front line.
A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar round during training in the Donetsk region on March 10.
Photo by Roman Chop/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
President Trump held his latest conversation with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
The two agreed to set in motion a reduction of targeting in Ukraine, with more negotiations later.
There are still major — and difficult — questions ahead to end Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
After being bullied into accepting the American proposal, Ukraine has signaled a willingness to accept US-made plans for a cease-fire with Russia. However, Moscow does not appear to be on the same page.
President Donald Trump spoke on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The two leaders agreed on a preliminary reduction in missile and drone attacks on energy and infrastructure, setting the stage for follow-on negotiations, according to a White House readout of the call. It does not end Russia’s effort to seize more land from Ukraine, which is happening amid a slackening of US arms support.
“The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the readout said. “These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East.”
The readout lays out a framework for further talks to end the war, but it remains unclear whether Ukraine will be part of those direct negotiations and whether the Russian leader is willing to stop the war.
It has been a very hard road, and there are tough questions hanging over the Trump administration’s efforts to end the bloodshed in this three-year war that Russia launched to dominate Ukraine at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives and devastated cities and towns.
Some of the big looming questions are whether a cease-fire deal as Trump has sought is reachable and will hold, how Kyiv’s security can be guaranteed, and what will deter Russia from invading again. On some of these issues, the history is far from reassuring.
Ukraine will need to maintain a large standing force and a wartime defense industry, with Western arms backing, to defend itself if the front lines are frozen. An added element would be an international peacekeeping force of 30,000 that still may not be enough to slow a renewed Russian offensive.
Can Russia be trusted?
The biggest challenge with a cease-fire deal could be getting it to actually hold. Russia has violated previous agreements with Ukraine since the invasion first began in 2014, not to mention earlier ones.
From left: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance argue during a meeting in the Oval Office on February 28.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced these concerns during last month’s Oval Office meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance when the Ukrainian leader pointed to the fact that Putin broke a cease-fire deal with Kyiv in 2019. The Ukrainian president was then accused of not wanting peace.
Kyiv has long feared that a cease-fire would be a respite for the bruised Russian army, a breather before it takes another swing. Russia, which currently has the battlefield initiative and is closing the Kursk salient while pressing forward inside Ukraine, has said it worries about giving the Ukrainians a chance to rest.
Defense experts at the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a January analysis of efforts to end this war that “Ukraine will need to determine how to deter Russia from using any period of calm as an opportunity to rearm, wait for the world to lower its collective guard, and then attack again.”
Trump has said that he trusts Putin. The same can’t be said for Zelenskyy.
The distrust between Kyiv and Moscow could be trouble in negotiations. Mark Cancian, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Ukraine’s “stumbling block” will be security guarantees. He told BI that Russia would also need to step back from maximum demands regarding Ukrainian sovereignty, territory, and disarmament to get to a cessation of hostilities.
It is very possible that a cease-fire without strong arms support to Ukraine and a reduction in Russian aims fails to end or even substantially pause the war.
The US has leverage over Ukraine because of its heavy arms support, but excluding Ukraine from direct talks with Russia may lead to a flawed cease-fire framework.
Can Ukraine’s security be guaranteed?
Kyiv has asked NATO for considerable security guarantees as part of a cease-fire deal with Russia. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe and defends a 600-mile frontline through its land from the Black Sea to its northern border with Russia.
While the UK and France have both indicated they are willing to send forces to Ukraine as part of a multinational security presence to ensure that Russia doesn’t violate a cease-fire, Moscow has said it will not accept NATO countries participating in such plans. Even if it warms to the idea, it’s a delicate and tricky situation.
Ben Barry, a senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said in an analysis that a multinational force would demand structure, including an overarching strategy, unambiguous rules of engagement, and a very clear mission statement, among all the various other political and military considerations.
A rescue worker puts out a fire on a house after it was hit by a Russian drone in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on March 1.
AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last month that any security guarantees must come from European and non-European militaries and not be deployed as part of a NATO mission. He said the US would not send troops to Ukraine.
However, Vance said just days later that the US could send troops to Ukraine if Russia doesn’t negotiate in good faith.
Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security advisor, said over the weekend that Ukraine might have to concede territory to Russia in exchange for security guarantees; Russia still occupies around 20% of Ukrainian territory in the east and south. What these guarantees might ultimately be remains uncertain.
“Security guarantees must be tangible,” Cancian said, noting that assurances on paper mean very little.
“We saw from the Budapest agreements of 1994 that signatures on a piece of paper are just that,” Cancian said of the agreement that pledged the US, UK, and Russia wouldn’t use force against Ukraine if it gave up its nuclear weapons. Russia then invaded the country exactly two decades later.
If Ukraine can’t get Western forces to help ensure its security, history paints a bleak picture of potential outcomes. The Korean War is a frozen conflict, one in which aggression is deterred by around 30,000 US troops and the American nuclear umbrella. The grim alternatives when a country’s security isn’t guaranteed can be seen in the collapse of South Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Experts say that Ukraine needs to bolster its defenses to be self-sufficient, regardless of security guarantees.
In their CFR analysis, Paul Stares and Michael O’Hanlon argued that any strategy should focus on strengthening Ukraine’s military with strong deterrence abilities. They argued that post-war force planning should start now.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare a drone for flight during a combat mission on March 12 in the Donetsk region.
Photo by Roman Chop/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Stares and O’Hanlon said that Ukraine needs a multilayered territorial defense system for the territory it still controls.
“This step,” they wrote, “would comprise a hardened outer defense perimeter, a strategic rapid-response force to respond to serious threats, and enhanced protection for major population centers and critical infrastructure.” They called for an active-duty force of 500,000 and nearly the same in ready reserve.
To deter Russian military power, Ukraine will need to further fortify its long lines with Russia and rebuild its arsenal with an aim that should Russian forces attack, they will be slowed by a defense-in-depth strategy, buying time for Ukraine to counter-attack. Layered defenses have proven effective and contributed to the war’s largely static lines.
An international peacekeeping force could serve as conflict monitors. They could also have orders to assist Ukraine in fighting off a renewed Russian attack, a contribution that may be especially useful if they have air forces with stand-off weapons that can airstrike Russian assault columns.
Can Russia be deterred?
Ukrainian and European officials have said that hard military power and smart decision-making are needed to deter potential future Russian aggression.
The European parliament said last week that Ukraine “must be empowered to reject hasty deals that weaken its security in the mid- and long-term and risk subjecting it and other European countries to renewed Russian aggression in the future.”
A belligerent Russia poses a threat beyond Ukraine. It has one of the world’s largest arms industries and is mass-producing the firepower needed to advance on modern battlefields. Analysts worry it may only need a few years to regroup to re-attack Ukraine or seek conquest elsewhere.
Parallel to the Ukraine war, there have been consistent concerns about increasing Russian aggression on NATO soil, especially amid questions of US support for the alliance under the Trump administration. These developments have pushed European countries to rearm and strengthen their militaries to deter Moscow.
“In Europe, the long-term risk is a renewal of conflict after Russia has been able to rebuild its military forces,” said Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel. “In the Pacific, the risk is that China will see this partial Putin victory as an encouraging precedent for taking over Taiwan.”
Russia could choose to go after Ukraine again. It could choose another target. Ukraine isn’t the first European country it’s invaded. How this war eventually ends will shape Moscow’s thinking, either deterring or emboldening it.
Ukraine uses a drone that resembles a small airplane to bomb Russian targets behind the front lines.
The Backfire drone offers a solution to strike deep without compromising payload, its maker says.
A soldier who uses the drone told BI that it’s an effective weapon for combat missions.
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces have a small, fixed-wing “bomber” drone called the Backfire that they use to carry out strikes deep behind enemy lines, hitting Russian command centers, artillery, and weapon storage sites.
The Backfire drone, made by the Ukrainian company Zli Ptakhy, has emerged as a way for the country to execute penetrating bombing missions without compromising payload. Kyiv has made significant strides in the development of deep-strike drone capabilities as a substitute for long-range missiles, which Ukraine lacked at the onset of the fighting.
In separate interviews with Business Insider, a Zli Ptakhy representative and a Ukrainian soldier whose unit fields the Backfire described the drone as an effective weapon. They said the aircraft provides its operators with a good mix of range, explosive power, and durability.
The Backfire started as a collaboration between Ukraine’s military and defense industry, which sought to build something that could penetrate deep behind the front lines.
The drone began participating in combat missions on a regular basis in 2023. Since then, it’s been a nonstop process to improve the aircraft — from the airframe to the engine — as the Ukrainian military continuously provides feedback on the aircraft’s battlefield performance.
The aircraft, which costs a little under $500, has a propellor on its nose like classic fixed-wing aircraft. Much smaller than a crewed plane, it has a wingspan of more than 11 feet and is 6 feet in length. A three-person crew can launch the bomber drone from a catapult in minutes.
The Backfire drone.
Courtesy of ZLi Ptakhy
The Backfire drone has a range of roughly 90 miles, a typical cruising speed of around 60 mph, and the ability to carry out bombing missions at altitudes between 150 and 1,000 feet. It can carry a payload of over 12 pounds and release mortars, grenades, or mines on targets below.
The choice of ordnance is flexible and ultimately depends on the specifics of the mission.
Anton Eine, the Zli Ptakhy representative, said the drone could “carpet bomb” Russian positions below. His brother Alex, the section commander of a drone unit in Ukraine’s Separate Presidential Brigade, said the Backfire could drop mines to be remotely detonated at a later time as an alternative payload.
The Backfire has mainly been used in combat missions along the southern direction of the front lines. Alex’s unit, known in English as the “Birds of Fury” and which primarily uses the Backfire drone, works in the Kherson region and flies the drone across the Dnipro River into Russian-held territory.
The aim is to catch the Russians off guard. “We are doing our missions deep behind enemy lines, so they are not expecting our flight,” he said.
The two brothers said that Zli Ptakhy struck a balance with the Backfire. Some drones carry more explosives. Some fly farther. Some don’t come back, like the exploding first-person-view quadcopter drones used all along the front.
“Backfire is the golden ratio between the cost, the reusability, payload, and range,” Alex said.
The Backfire is a multi-use drone. It’s able to carry out dozens of missions and is easily repairable if it gets damaged in flight or during landing, which sometimes requires a parachute to slow it down.
“It’s a very efficient weapon,” Anton said.
The Backfire has been shot down and faces similar challenges to other drones: high-intensity electronic warfare, or signal jamming, across the front lines. Both Russia and Ukraine rely heavily on electronic warfare tactics to interfere with enemy weaponry like drones and munitions.
Anton said that the Backfire met little resistance when it first started flying. But over time, the Russians started deploying more air defenses and employing tougher electronic warfare. This development has forced operators to try out new tactics, like flying the drone at higher or lower altitudes; the latter increases the chances of it being shot down.
“It’s pushing us — and all the producers of the drones — to look for solutions how to overcome the radio electronic warfare,” Anton explained, saying that they have “to look for new kinds of antennas, new solutions for navigation and connection.”
The Backfire drone deploys a parachute for landing.
Courtesy of ZLi Ptakhy
“It’s an endless chase,” he added. “Each time it happens that someone finds the solution to overcome enemy counter-solutions, and then the game changes.”
Ukrainian officials have described the weapons race between Kyiv and Moscow as a cat-and-mouse affair, with both sides trying to best the other with their war technology and innovation.
The Ukrainian military wants the Backfire to have a higher payload, longer range, better strike precision, and more efficient electronic warfare resistance. It’s a tall order, but Zli Ptakhy is closing in on doubling its payload and expanding the drone’s range. The company can produce dozens of the drones a month in production facilities at undisclosed locations around Ukraine.
Zli Ptakhy is one of many Ukrainian companies making drones of all shapes, sizes, and capabilities for the country’s military as it continues to defend against Russia’s invasion.
Drone production has been the cornerstone of Kyiv’s booming defense industry. The government in Kyiv recently announced plans to purchase around 4.5 million FPV drones this year alone.
This is especially true without security guarantees from the US or enough international peacekeepers to monitor and respond to renewed Russian aggression.
There are few naturally defensible positions between the front line and major strategic targets, meaning the temptation for Russia to break a cease-fire deal and take advantage of Ukraine’s fragile defensive situation would be high.
In an assessment on Sunday, the Institute for the Study of War said that “the current frontlines do not provide the strategic depth that Ukraine will need to reliably defend against renewed Russian aggression.”
Bryden Spurling, a senior research leader with RAND Europe, told BI that the further west the front line is drawn, the worse for Ukraine given the concentration of strategically and economically vital centers near the front.
“So there is a lot at stake in the position of any frozen lines of conflict for Ukraine’s future prospects — not just in defense, but economically,” he said.
Russia’s grinding offensive
Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine, mostly in the south and east.
The front line has shifted over the course of the three-year war. In recent months, Russia has been making incremental but steady gains.
The ISW think tank said that Russian forces are close to several major cities. It said they’re just across the Dnipro River from Kherson City in south Ukraine, roughly 25 kilometers from Zaporizhzhia City in the east, and 30 kilometers from Kharkiv in the north.
It added that the current front line, which is around 600 miles long, would be expensive to defend during a cease-fire, requiring a bigger Ukrainian military, and more support from Ukraine’s allies.
A January report by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said that Ukraine could defend itself effectively by creating a “multilayered territorial defense system” that would involve a hardened defense perimeter, rapid-response forces, and enhanced protection for cities and critical infrastructure.
It estimated that this would require about 550,000 active duty Ukrainian military personnel, not to mention another 450,000 in reserve, and would cost between $20-40 billion a year, “comparable to the defense budgets of Israel and South Korea.”
However, it did point out that this was considerably less than the current wartime expenditures.
To deter another Russian attack, Ukraine would need to lay extensive defensive lines of mines, trenches, and artillery, and guard them with enough troops to slow down an assault force so it could rush more resources in.
Russia has also hit on a successful mix of weapons including glide bombs and exploding drones to advance against Ukraine, and could use a spell of months to rebuild its stocks.
Spurling said that the shorter and less jagged a front line is, the easier it is to defend, and Ukraine would be seeking to draw the line to take advantage of geographical features that gives its defenders an advantage.
“Done properly, it’s a complex undertaking,” he said.
On Sunday, the ISW called for the US to back Ukraine in pushing back Russian forcesand in establishing a front line along positions that can be more easily defended.
“A ceasefire along more defensible positions would also place Russian forces in a more disadvantaged position for renewed offensive operations, making future Russian aggression less likely,” it said.
Peace or fragile truce?
Many specifics of a US-backed cease-fire deal remain unclear, if it indeed gets agreed to by both Russia and Ukraine.
But whatever shape it takes, it’s unlikely that any deal that freezes the current front line will hold, Stefan Wolff, a professor of international security at the UK’s University of Birmingham, told BI.
He also said that any deal would have to be strong enough to deter Russia from using a cease-fire to rearm and launch a new offensive. If the front line was frozen on its current lines, a strong enough security guarantee from the likes of the US could be a deterrent to Russia, he added.
Measures being discussed by some allies include deploying European troops to back up a peace deal, something Russia opposes.
“If Ukraine is properly armed and gets some sort of security guarantee, even badly fortified lines might become more defensible simply by virtue of the cost Ukraine could impose on Russia in the future,” Wolff said.
Spurling added that Ukraine was likely to be more focused on obtaining security guarantees from its allies, rather than the demarcation of the front line.
“If Europe or the US are truly willing to provide a genuine backstop in the case of Russian restarting conflict, then that would pose a major strategic dilemma to any future Russian ambitions in Ukraine,” he said, “and dramatically increase Ukraine’s capacity to absorb any new invasion.”
President Donald Trump says he’ll speak with Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday.
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump told reporters he will speak to Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said.
Ukraine has said it is ready to accept a US proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia.
President Donald Trump said he plans to speak to Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday, to talk about ending the Ukraine war.
“We will see if we have something to announce maybe by Tuesday. I will be speaking to President Putin on Tuesday,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday, per multiple media reports.
“A lot of work’s been done over the weekend. We want to see if we can bring that war to an end,” Trump added.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022. Since then, both sides have suffered significant losses and casualties.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration paused all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Those were later restored after Ukraine said it was ready to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day cease-fire with Russia. Trump had also threatened Putin and Russia with sanctions if they didn’t agree to a cease-fire with Ukraine.
“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said of the coming negotiations with Putin.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
The Trump administration has frozen foreign aid and killed USAID programs that administer humanitarian assistance across the world. We break down what this means for global stability in a video collaboration between Politico and Business Insider.
