Whether the U.S.-Russia summit can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow’s invasion remains to be seen.

T HE TIMING could not have been worse. Days before a crucial summit in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday, Russian forces broke through Ukraine’s defensive line. Near the breakout area at Dobropillia, just north of the Ukrainian stronghold of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, soldiers report panic and confusion.

President Donald Trump sought to lower expectations for his scheduled meeting in Alaska on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling reporters that a second meeting that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be more consequential.