An Israeli air strike lands in front of Beaufort Castle as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 4, 2026. Russia and the United States projected their own centralized views onto Ukraine and Iran, analysts said. As a result, the smaller countries trapped larger ones in a costly confrontation. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times) By NEIL MacFARQUHAR President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, both resist the idea that ostensibly weaker powers fought them to a stalemate,…
