The writer is author of ‘Command’?and the Substack ‘Comment is Freed’

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to establish a negotiating process to end the Russo-Ukrainian war. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, the aggrieved party in the war, was not on the call but Trump rang him afterwards to tell him about what had been agreed, and presumably the role he might be allowed to play. Zelenskyy, who has worked very hard since well before last November’s US election to stay close to Trump, declared himself satisfied with the call.

This is despite comments from US officials dismissing two core features of Ukraine’s demands: the return of all territory seized illegally by Russia and security guarantees backed by the US, preferably through Nato. Trump administration officials have been consistent in pointing to Ukraine’s inability to liberate all its lost territory through military means. Meanwhile, the new American defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told his Nato counterparts that the US no longer saw European security as its main priority. He added that while Ukraine could expect its own security guarantees, these would be provided by Europeans.