Putin Keeps Pummeling Ukraine, Convinced Trump Is on His Side

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President Vladimir V. Putin is, brutally, walking a tightrope.

The Russian leader appears eager to keep up talks with President Trump as Moscow brims with optimism that energy deals, direct flights and the lifting of sanctions could all be in the offing. He is expected on Friday to host the White House envoy Steve Witkoff for their fourth meeting in three months.

But Mr. Putin has cast aside Mr. Trump’s calls for a quick peace in Ukraine, with the ferocity of Russia’s airstrikes on civilian targets seemingly increasing. Mr. Putin openly admitted this week that Russia had bombed a restaurant because, he claimed, people “deserving the most serious punishment” were “drinking vodka” there.

The result is a game-of-chicken negotiation with Mr. Trump, as the American president threatens to walk away while Mr. Putin keeps testing his patience. The Kremlin is still exuding calm confidence, even with Mr. Trump posting on social media, “Vladimir, STOP!” on Thursday in response to Russia’s deadliest missile attack on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in nearly a year.

The funeral this month of Herman Tripolets, 9, who was killed in a missile attack that struck a playground in central Ukraine.Credit…Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times

“We are ready to reach a deal,” Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said in an interview aired late Thursday by CBS News. “But there are still some specific points, elements of this deal, which need to be fine tuned, and we are busy with this exact process.”

Overnight, Russia continued its airstrikes. The Ukrainian authorities said on Friday that a large-scale drone attack had killed three, including a child, in the eastern city of Pavlohrad.

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