None
EN
A Year Ago Putin Had the Momentum. Now Russia Is Importing Fuel and Ukraine Is Taking Ground.
['Senior Fellow', 'Director', 'Center On Europe', 'Nonresident', 'China Center', 'Mark Montgomery', 'Chi-Chang Tsai', 'Pao-Yang Shen', 'Ting-Yu Wang', 'Hudson Institute']
Hudson Institute
Russia held the momentum, the February White House meeting with Zelenskyy was still fresh, and administration officials spoke as though Ukraine would eventually have to settle.
The memory of the disastrous February meeting at the White House between President Zelenskyy, President Trump, and Vice President Vance was still fresh in everyone’s mind.
Russia was launching more drone attacks against Ukraine than at any stage of the war up to that point.
In short, Ukraine looks more like a winner, and Russia increasingly like a loser.
The White House supported the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which looks likely to clear the Senate with bipartisan support.