David Ignatius: Next Phase of the War in Ukraine Could Be Even Bloodier than What We’ve Seen

EXCERPT:

IGNATIUS: "So, Willie, the attack Sunday on the airfields across the breadth of Russia was just stunning. I think the whole world saw Ukraine’s skill in mounting these covert actions using drones. People hoped that it might be a knockout punch against Vladimir Putin and Russia, but it’s clear now that it really is a prelude to a new phase of this war. And I do worry that this next phase could be even bloodier than what we’ve seen. As President Trump says again and again, the killing field in Iran has led to a kind of violence we haven’t seen since the Second World War. He was very graphic yesterday in describing what satellite intelligence shows of the bodies, what it looks like when you have closeup images, as he does as president, of what the battlefield carnage looks like. President Trump's, to me, sadly, has now stepped back from this conflict. There was a lot of hope when he became president that he would be the peacemaker, he’d find a way to put enough pressure on Russia, to get Russia and Ukraine to terms that might lead to a stable settlement. We saw this week, with the meeting between the two negotiators in Istanbul, that they’re so far apart that a negotiated settlement isn’t possible.”