But considerable distance remains between the positions of Ukraine, Russia and America, as well as doubts about Mr Putin’s real intentions. For now his bombardments continue. The shape of the peace deal the three countries are working on is hard to pin down.

U.S. President Donald Trump should move forward with imposing more sanctions on Russia as it would help bring an end to the war in Ukraine, Finland's foreign minister said on Friday in a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker interview.

Blacklisting ships in the fleet would represent the first U.S. sanctions on Moscow since Trump returned to the White House in January.