Washington
\nNews of the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet in person to discuss the war in Ukraine, will have come as an unwelcome surprise to Kyiv.
\nThe country is being hit hard.
\nThe last 24 hours alone have seen Russia launch dozens of missiles and more than 300 drones at multiple targets.
\nOnce again, they include a large amount of civilian infrastructure with further damage to the country\u2019s gas supply network, just as the first signs of cold herald a long, hard winter ahead.
\nAttacks on the electrical grid are already leading to nationwide power outages.
\nFor Ukraine\u2019s government it\u2019s a sign of Russian desperation.
\nThe frontlines are at effective stalemate, involving huge loss of life for incremental territorial gains.
\nAnd the Russian economy is feeling the effects of the Ukrainian military\u2019s increasingly effective drone strikes on oil depots.
\nSo, President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s big hope was for more American military assistance to keep up that pressure.
\nBefore he boarded his plane to Washington, he seemed to believe that things were going his way.
\nThere was optimistic talk about Trump beginning to see the world through Ukraine\u2019s eyes, a big shift from that angry, humiliating Oval Office exchange in February when he accused Zelensky of \u201cgambling with World War Three\u201d.
\nThe failure of the Trump-Putin Alaska summit in August and the intensifying bombardment of Ukraine were \u2013 it was thought \u2013 all causing the US president to lose patience with his \u201cgood friend\u201d, as he has called Putin.
\nThere were high hopes that Friday\u2019s meeting would finally yield the prize Ukraine has been seeking – Trump\u2019s permission for the purchase of long-range Tomahawk missiles.
\nTrump\u2019s frustration with Putin was obvious on Sunday when he told reporters: \u201cDo they [Russia] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don\u2019t think so.\u201d
\nBut how much of a game changer the missiles would really be is in much dispute among military experts and, with the complicated logistics, it could be months before they were deployed.
\nBut at the very least they would add to Ukraine\u2019s ability to strike deep into the heart of Russia and with a much more powerful weapon than any it currently possesses.
\nThey would also send a potent physical message to Putin about America\u2019s shifting allegiances.
\nSo, the two-and-a-half-hour Trump-Putin phone call, that took place while Zelensky was in flight, somewhat steals a march on the Ukrainian president\u2019s big moment.
\nSo far, though, he\u2019s putting something of a brave face on it, suggesting in a post sent on his arrival in Washington that Russia was panicking.
\nThe Kremlin was \u201crushing to renew dialogue\u201d, he said, precisely because of all the talk of the Tomahawks.
\nOther analysts will see less panic and more of a classic Putin play at work in the phone call, which was said by the Kremlin to have taken place at Russia\u2019s behest.
\nThe issue of the Tomahawks was indeed discussed, with Putin reinforcing his view that their deployment would be seen as a significant act of provocation.
\nThe two men apparently discussed the \u201ccolossal prospects\u201d \u2013 in Russia\u2019s words \u2013 for trade if peace were achieved.
\nAnd then they agreed to their summit in Hungary. That will probably happen within the next two weeks, Trump said.
\nAs Ukraine faces its fourth winter of war, few people here had much belief in Trump\u2019s claim that he could turn his \u201csuccess\u201d in the Middle East into momentum towards peace in Ukraine.
\nOne woman the BBC spoke to, badly injured in a Russian strike on a civilian railway carriage, shrugged her shoulders when we asked her if she saw an easy way out.
\n\u201cA person like Putin can\u2019t be trusted,\u201d she said from her hospital bed.
\nAfter touching down in Washington on Thursday evening, Zelensky met representatives of defence companies who produce the powerful weapons he says he needs to strengthen Ukraine\u2019s protection.
\nHe will still ask the White House for the Tomahawks.
\nBut Trump\u2019s willingness to give them was always in doubt and must, surely, be now further called into question.
\nMeanwhile, Russia is being given something.
\nA familiar pattern is developing. Every time Trump grows increasingly frustrated with Putin\u2019s intransigence over Ukraine he is then placated by a conversation with the Russian president.
\nEach time they speak he seems to be persuaded of Putin\u2019s point of view and backs off his threats to apply tougher sanctions or supply more destructive weapons.
\nThe Hungary summit, offered without concessions, doesn\u2019t look like much of a loss of American patience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington News of the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet in person to discuss the war in Ukraine, will have come as an unwelcome surprise to Kyiv. The country is being hit hard. The last 24 hours alone have seen Russia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-509277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n