When Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine there was nothing in the West that could persuade him to stand down.

But Donald Trump’s return to the White House could force the Russian president to seriously consider the possibility of peace for the first time.

Neither Moscow nor Ukraine have a military victory in their sights almost three years on from the start of the invasion on Feb 24 2022.

Instead, a hastily arranged 800-mile demilitarised border partitioning the warring nations appears to be the most likely outcome.

The arrangement will be a bitter pill for Kyiv’s political leaders and citizens to stomach, as freezing the conflict where it stands surrenders 20 per cent of the war-torn nation to the aggressor.

In exchange for accepting this ending, Volodmyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, will insist on a multinational force to police what could be the most fragile of peace settlements.

The US and Nato are not expected to play a major role in deterring Putin from sinking his teeth into Ukraine again.

This task should fall primarily to the Europeans, as Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, put it at a recent meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels.

European leaders were left scrambling to put on a united front in response to Mr Trump’s decision to start negotiations with Putin and everything else that comes with it, including security guarantees to ensure a long-lasting peace in Ukraine.

Sir Keir Starmer was first to declare he would be willing to put British boots on the ground as part of any settlement.