Lindsey Graham has warned Donald Trump that the U.S. is being “played” by Russian President Vladimir Putin as he leads a bipartisan push to cripple the Kremlin with America’s toughest sanctions yet. As the White House drags its feet on Russia despite its ongoing aggression against Ukraine,

Ukrainian and Russian delegations met again in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday to take part in the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks.

In an operation said to be 18 months in the planning, Ukraine conducted a devastating series of drone strikes against Russia air bases on Sunday.

Russia continues to reject an unconditional ceasefire says Ukraine after peace talks - The second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine lasted just over an hour

Vladimir Putin has remained silent for over a day following a series of incidents in Russia. First, in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, railway bridges were blown up. Then, Russian strategic air force bases were subjected to an unprecedented strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian and Ukrainian delegates met in Istanbul on Monday for their second set of direct peace talks, a day after Kyiv launched a shock drone attack on Russia’s nuclear-capable bombers, in an operation that President Volodymyr Zelensky said was a year and a half in the making.

However, Trump’s rhetoric surrounding Russia, traditionally sympathetic to Putin’s aims, has shifted in recent weeks as his attempts to end the war continue to be thwarted.At the weekend, Trump warned that if Putin threatened to conquer all of Ukraine he would bring about the “downfall” of Russia.

The US President’s desire to impose himself as mediator in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia had already been widely ridiculed for several weeks, and today this ambition seems completely discredited.