Days after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, Russia launched one of its largest assaults in weeks. On August 21, Moscow targeted Ukraine with 574 drones and 40 missiles, hitting five western cities and Zaporizhzhia in the south.
One missile struck Mukachevo, only 30 km from the Hungarian border, damaging a US-owned electronics plant. Officials said 19 people were injured. Around 600 workers were inside but had taken shelter after sirens sounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike. “It was an ordinary civilian enterprise, an American investment,” he wrote. “They produced such familiar household items as coffee machines. And this is also a target for the Russians. Very telling.”
He added that Moscow showed “no signal” of wanting real negotiations.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed the attack hit Texas-based Flex, calling it “a fully civilian facility.” Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak also accused Putin of hypocrisy. “Putin talks about peace, but does not take a single step to achieve it,” he said.
The Mukachevo mayor stressed that the factory provides jobs to thousands. Meanwhile, the company said it makes only consumer goods and its priority was workers’ safety.
Andy Hunder of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine urged Trump to act. He wrote, “Russia continues to destroy and humiliate US businesses in Ukraine, targeting companies that invest and trade on the US stock markets.”
Trump Calls for Ukraine to Go on Offense
Soon after the Russian strikes, Trump toughened his rhetoric. On Truth Social, he posted, “It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invader’s country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning! It is like that with Ukraine and Russia.”
He criticized Joe Biden’s ban on Ukraine striking inside Russia with US missiles. “Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine fight back, only defend. How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have never happened if I were president – zero chance,” Trump wrote.
He also shared a photo of himself poking Putin in the chest, mirroring a historic image of Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev.
Analysts saw this as Trump urging Kyiv to strike Russia directly, a major escalation that Moscow has called a red line. His remarks also appealed to European allies pressing Washington for tougher measures.
Peace Talks Lose Momentum
Trump’s shift came after a week of diplomacy. On August 15, he met Putin in Alaska. Three days later, he hosted Zelenskyy and European leaders in Washington. He even announced plans to arrange a direct meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin, with US and European security guarantees for Kyiv.
However, progress quickly stalled. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Putin was open to talks but questioned Zelenskyy’s authority to sign a deal. He also stressed any talks must start at expert level and proceed gradually.
Former Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev said this vague approach allows Moscow to stall. “Western diplomacy first says out loud what they’re going to do, so their opponent is ready,” he told ABC News. “Russians would never do such a thing.”
At the same time, Moscow raised new demands. Lavrov insisted Russia and China must be part of any security guarantees for Ukraine. “Russia will accept if the security guarantees to Ukraine are provided on equal basis with the participation of countries like China, the United States, the United Kingdom and France,” he said.
This undermined earlier claims that Moscow had agreed to security guarantees.
Trump Signals Doubt
The clearest sign of faltering talks came from Trump himself. After sounding hopeful, he told a radio host, “Well, I’ll let you know in about, I would say within two weeks, we’re going to know one way or the other. After that, we’ll have to maybe take a different tack, but we’ll see, but we’ll know pretty soon.”
His words suggested peace remains as distant as before his meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy.