MICHAEL KIMMAGE is Professor of History at the Catholic University of America. He is the author of Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the New Global Instability.

As president Trump gives Putin 50 days to stop the fighting and come to the peace negotiation table, the Ukrainian frontlines are experiencing an uptick in the use of chemical weapons, according to the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced Wednesday a renewed ceasefire after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and have drawn intervention by Syria’s powerful neighbor, Israel.

To appreciate the dramatic shift in President Donald Trump’s policy towards Ukraine, consider two scenes in the Oval Office, months apart:

President Donald Trump took his harshest tone on Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, signaling a stronger stance in Ukraine.

"As Putin's cultural ambassador ... the ruins of Syria's Palmyra after Moscow's intervention in the country on the side of dictator Bashar al-Assad. He also conducted a triumphant concert in Georgia's Tskhinvali region after the Russian invasion in ...

If the Admiral Kuznetsov is decided not to continue repairs, it remains only to take it, cut it into scrap metal and dispose of it,” one admiral said.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are seen on a poster in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 8, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that "unjustified" U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear sites were pushing the world towards great danger and he promised to try to help the Iranian people, although did not spell out how.

The possibility of another war in the Middle East has sucked attention, energy and resources away from Ukraine.

President Trump now wants to give more weapons to Ukraine and is threatening increased sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to end the war in 50 days. The president explained why in a phone call with our partners at BBC News.