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In a two-hour interview, President Vladimir Putin of Russia was more direct than usual about how he sees his Ukraine invasion ending: not with a military victory, but a deal with the West.

The interview, which Moscow said took place this week, would give the Russian leader a chance to reach a potentially sympathetic audience in the United States.

Amid crumbling U.S. support for Ukraine and Donald Trump’s rising candidacy, European nations and NATO are making plans to take on Russia by themselves.

Long lines have popped up in Russia and beyond to get Boris B. Nadezhdin, an antiwar candidate, onto the ballot for Russia’s presidential election in March.

Russia said that Ukraine retaliated hours later with missile attacks on Russian territory, part of an escalating cycle of air assaults between the two countries.

The bombardment of Belgorod on Saturday, apparently in response to an enormous air assault by Moscow a day earlier, appeared to be the deadliest single attack on Russian soil since the start of the war.

A major military success at sea against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet was tempered by Ukraine’s acknowledgment that it had all but retreated from the city of Marinka.

The country’s trade with Russia this year has exceeded $200 billion, and makers of cars and trucks are the big winners.

Aleksei A. Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, did not appear at a court hearing two weeks ago and has not been heard from since. His allies are trying desperately to find him.