For years, Donald Trump criticized presidents for empty threats. He often pointed to then-President Barack Obama failing to enforce his “red line” on Syria using chemical weapons. During his first term in 2017, Trump called it a “blank threat” that cost us “in many other parts of the world.”

President Trump said that he would hold off on imposing new sanctions on Russia. “We don't have to think about that right now,” Trump said during a Fox News interview Friday night after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

But considerable distance remains between the positions of Ukraine, Russia and America, as well as doubts about Mr Putin’s real intentions. For now his bombardments continue. The shape of the peace deal the three countries are working on is hard to pin down.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told ABC's "This Week" that the deadline for negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine is "as soon as possible" and imposing more sanctions on Russia would represent "walking away from any prospect of a negotiated settlement" and "probably just adding six,