The president appears to have adopted a proposal first made last year that offers “strategic partners” such as the U.S. special access to Ukraine's glut of natural resources.

Posting footage of the aftermath of the strike, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote: “This brutality cannot be tolerated. Maximum pressure must be applied to Russia – through military force, sanctions, and diplomacy – to stop the terror and protect lives.”

Moscow is set on capturing as much territory as possible as the Trump administration is pushing for negotiations to end the war.