As Trump turns toward Russia, Zelensky drops his restraint

"Frankly, Trump has crossed the Rubicon," a Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent.

After two years of trying to win over Donald Trump through flattery and careful diplomacy, President Volodymyr Zelensky has changed course to adopt a more confrontational tone.

"Zelensky is delicate but firm," Oleksandr Merezhko, chair of Ukraine's parliamentary foreign affairs committee, told the Kyiv Independent. "The president can't stay silent when Trump has effectively struck a deal with Putin. The masks have been taken off. Trump doesn't want Ukraine to win."

Photo: Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto via Getty Images.