Negotiations aimed at freezing the conflict could finally put an end to the fighting – and lay the foundation for a new world order
It is the ending no one in Ukraine wanted, and few believe can last. Kyiv will surrender 20 per cent of its land to Russia as it is partitioned along an 800-mile, heavily militarised border.
The peace will be secured by Vladimir Putin’s word as a gentleman, and a multinational force with no American involvement. Neither America nor Nato at large will be obliged to defend Ukraine should Russia attack again.
The obvious risks of such a settlement are one thing. But what has shocked European governments is that Donald Trump and Putin appear to have hammered it out without talking to anyone else. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky only met vice-president JD Vance as an afterthought, on Friday. But it was clear the real action had taken place between the two presidents – Trump and Putin – elsewhere. “Bastards” one British defence official said of the Americans on hearing of the purported plan.
