He may not be the one to sit down with Vladimir Putin, but Keith Kellogg, President Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, summed up the horror of Sunday’s ballistic missile strikes on Sumy succinctly.

“Today’s Palm Sunday attack by Russian forces on civilian targets in Sumy crosses any line of decency,” he said.

“As a former military leader, I understand targeting and this is wrong.”

Ukraine war latest: At least 34 people killed

Vladimir Putin gave up on decency long before he started this war.

What he seems to be risking by attacks of this scale is Donald Trump‘s patience.

He does not seem to mind if strikes like this make a mockery of US attempts to bring the two warring parties to the table.

He does not seem to care if he alienates his US counterpart, who has been strangely predisposed to fawn over him to date.

Perhaps he is raising the stakes as high as he can to illustrate his strength of hand: Strikes on civilians damage Ukrainian morale – even if they are hardly battlefield wins – and on the battlefield, he is pushing ahead and does not want to stop.

Perhaps he knows that if he keeps up his military momentum, President Trump will tire of a conflict he realises he cannot solve and let the matter slip while staying true to his MAGA-economic priorities by letting funds for Ukraine dry up.

Perhaps he thinks President Trump is so keen on a rapprochement with Russia, on the big Putin-Trump bilateral, that the details, the civilian deaths along the way, will all be by-the-by when that long-sought photo-op finally happens.

Whatever it is, President Putin seems to be in no rush to get things settled.

His spokesman told a Russian state reporter on Sunday that talks were under way at several levels but that “of course, it is impossible to expect any instant results”.

Withdrawing his troops would get instant results. But that is not what Vladimir Putin wants.

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His war economy is working for him, and he has the attention of the one country he considers a worthy adversary, the United States.

In the meantime, this attack reinforces why President Zelenskyy’s plea for air defence systems is his top priority. And why a ceasefire cannot come soon enough.

NEW YORK — Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman had a cortisone shot to treat swelling in his inflamed left knee.

Stroman went to a hospital for scans after the 33-year right-hander mentioned pain to the team following Friday’s start, when he allowed five runs and got two outs in a rainy 9-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

“The MRI was good, but he had some swelling in there somewhere,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. “So try to eliminate that, hopefully get him ramped up pretty quick and, hopefully, something that really helps him move it forward.”

Stroman was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday, one day after throwing 46 pitches in steady rain. Boone said he did not know how much time Stroman will miss but hoped his absence would be short-term. Boone said he was uncertain if pitching in rain contributed to the knee issue.

“I’m not even sure,” Boone said. “Even watching the video, watching how [he was] not finishing properly on his front leg and I think that was due to the knee.”

Stroman is 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in three starts after allowing a three-run homer to Jung Hoo Lee and a two-run double to LaMonte Wade Jr. in his shortest career start that was not interrupted by rain.

Stroman turns 34 on May 1 and is in the second season of a two-year contract guaranteeing $37 million. The right-hander’s deal includes a $16 million conditional player option for 2026 that could be exercised if he pitches in at least 140 innings this year.

Last season, Stroman was 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA in 30 games (29 starts) when he threw 154 2/3 innings, his most since 2021 with the Mets. Stroman struggled in the second half and did not pitch in the postseason, when the Yankees made their first World Series appearance since 2009.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins unveiled a bronze statue of Hall of Fame catcher Joe Mauer at Target Field before Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.

Mauer spoke as the statue was unveiled outside a gate beyond right field. He joined Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, manager Tom Kelly and owners Carl and Eloise Pohlad with a statue outside the ballpark.

Designed by Minnesota artist Bill Mack, the statue is just over eight feet tall and weighs more than 800 pounds.

Mauer batted .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs with Minnesota from 2004-18. He was voted to baseball’s Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2024.

“Obviously, it was a big summer last year, going into Cooperstown — that was just an unbelievable experience. But to see myself here, this isn’t going to be moving for a long time,” Mauer said. “Here in my home state of Minnesota, I was always proud to put on this uniform, to play for this club, and to go out there and try to win every night with my teammates.”

The first overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft, Mauer played 15 seasons for his hometown club. He won three American League batting titles, was voted the 2009 AL MVP, was picked for six All-Star Games and earned three Gold Gloves. A severe concussion late in the 2013 season led to a move to first base in 2014.