Ukraine has been cornered into weighing terms it cannot accept and faces threat of losing its most important ally
The Kremlin has barely lifted a finger in recent days. It hasn’t needed to.
The 28-point US-Russia peace proposal, leaked to the media last week, has thrown Washington, Kyiv and European capitals into disarray, creating precisely the conditions Vladimir Putin has long sought: a negotiating table sharply tilted in the Russian president’s favour, with Ukraine cornered into weighing terms it cannot accept and the threat of losing its most important ally hanging over its head.
Since Donald Trump’s return to power, both Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, have worked relentlessly to convince the US they are not the side resisting peace. For his part, the US president has oscillated wildly – blasting one side or the other with angry posts and threats.
After the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, which by most accounts left the US president dissatisfied, he briefly appeared to side more openly with Kyiv, accusing Russia of blocking peace. Significant US sanctions on Russian oil followed.
