Attempts at peace in Ukraine are being drowned out in a war of words between Washington and Moscow. Donald Trump’s charm offensive with Vladimir Putin offering unilateral concessions with nothing in return — all carrots, no sticks — has been a dismal failure. The U.S. president has made empty threat after empty threat regarding imposing further sanctions as leverage to secure movement, but his tactic of mollycoddling the Russian leader, while basically ignoring Ukraine, is bordering on farce. Trump pressures Ukraine, the victim, erratically but bizarrely not Russia, the invader.