MOSCOW—The war in eastern Ukraine, which had cooled down over the past year, is reaching boiling point again. A 2020 ceasefire with Russian-backed militants has broken down. Soldiers on both sides are dying almost daily. Ukrainians are asking for an early, forceful move by President Biden, whom sources consider “Ukraine’s big friend.”

Ukraine has become caught in a broader conflict between the U.S. and Russia, which escalated this week. Russia recalled its ambassador from Washington, after Biden called Putin “a killer.”

The Ukraine war is the only hot conflict between Russia and the West in Europe, and the U.S. and the EU imposed sanctions after the outbreak of conflict in Eastern Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.