Ukrainian civilians fleeing the war. (Photo: Reuters).

On the third anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up efforts to end the devastating conflict with plans for a meeting with his counterpart Vladimir Putin underway, as Europe and Ukraine decry being sidelined.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022, in a major escalation of the war which started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, and has triggered the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.

The invasion has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties, according to reports.

Several Western leaders including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are in Ukraine’s capital for a summit to mark the third anniversary of war and show support for Kyiv.

On the eve of the war’s anniversary, Russia and Ukraine exchanged barrages of attack drones and missiles across their cities, according to multiple media sources.

On Monday morning, Moscow launched 185 attack drones on Ukraine, of which 113 were downed and another 71 disappeared from radar after being jammed, according to CNN, citing Ukrainian air force.

This came after Ukraine also faced what President Volodymyr Zelensky said was the largest drone assault since Russia’s invasion, on Sunday with 267 drones launched out of which 138 were intercepted.

The Russian Defense Ministry also reported the downing of 22 Ukrainian drones over four Russian regions.

Addressing the Kyiv summit, President Zelensky thanked fallen soldiers for defending the country and said a complete prisoner of war exchange with Russia could be the “start” of negotiations to end the war, BBC reported.

Over 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners are believed to be held in Russia since 2014.

The European Union has hit Russia with more sanctions on February 24, including prohibitions on aluminum imports from Russia, and listed more Russian ships dubbed as the “shadow fleet” allegedly smuggling exports in sanctions evasion.

On February 19, U.S. and Russian diplomatic officials met in Saudi Arabia for the first high-level talks between the two countries since the full-scale invasion.

The world’s superpowers agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, according to the countries’ two top diplomats.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Associated Press that the two sides agreed to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is reported by state-owned TASS news agency as acknowledging U.S. efforts to end the war, and adding that Moscow wants a long-term peace deal, not a quick fix.

“We can truly see that Washington is trying to understand what the root cause of the conflict was, and we hope that this analysis will facilitate efforts to resolve the conflict,” Ryabkov said.

“We hope that Washington will fully evaluate the root causes of the Ukraine conflict. This is what we have always tried to draw attention to for our opponents in Europe, and what they have been reluctant to do, along with the previous Washington administration,” Peskov noted.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with foreign leaders including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in the White House to discuss potential peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Relations between Trump and Ukraine President Zelensky have been tense lately and the two leaders traded blows after differing on their approaches to ending the conflict.

After Zelenskyy accused the U.S. president of perpetuating Russian “disinformation” on February 19, Trump fired back by labeling him a “dictator” who has failed his country.

The Institute for the Study of War indicates that Russians have repeatedly pointed to the 2022 Istanbul protocols as their ideal framework for future peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

News agencies have obtained versions of the draft treaties that indicate that both sides initially agreed that Ukraine would forgo its NATO membership aspirations and be a “permanently neutral state that doesn’t participate in military blocs.”

The draft treaties also banned Ukraine from receiving any foreign weapons or hosting any foreign military personnel, with Russia pushing for Ukraine to reduce its missile capabilities and troop size, ISW said, citing the Wall Street Journal and New York Times publications.

ISW adds that it believes Ukraine is unlikely to accept any peace agreement based on the Istanbul negotiations as such terms are effectively a full Ukrainian surrender to Russia’s long-term war goals.