Political messages don’t get much blunter than the Russian missiles that slammed into an American-owned manufacturing firm overnight Wednesday in western Ukraine, hundreds of miles away from the frontline trenches of a war with no end in sight.

The president, who had said a deal to end the war could be reached soon, expressed frustration over lack of progress and signaled he would pause his efforts.

President Donald Trump started the week declaring a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to get Russia and Ukraine closer to making peace, announcing he had begun arranging for direct talks between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russia launched drones and a missile into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, the air force in Kyiv said, as the country kicked off independence day celebrations marking the anniversary of its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

Ukraine launched a large drone strike Sunday that caused damage at Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant and a major fuel export terminal hundreds of miles away.