The last time an American president sat down with a Russian autocrat to carve up parts of Europe was 80 years ago in Potsdam. Then, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin drew up the new post-war boundaries, which effectively let the Soviets retain influence over the great swathes of Eastern Europe conquered by the Red Army. Britain was represented, firstly by Churchill and then by Clement Attlee after Labour’s 1945 election win. But no one attended from the countries whose fate was being decided.
Something similar is about to unfold in Alaska this week. Donald Trump is to meet Vladimir Putin to decide the fate of Ukraine between them. The White House hinted at the weekend that Volodomyr Zelensky may be invited as well, but this is not confirmed. Nor is it certain that the Russian leader would turn up if he is.
Mr Trump has been determined since assuming the presidency to end the conflict but seems to take the view that to do so it is Ukraine that will have to give way. He has already stated that any deal would involve “territory swaps”, which presumably involves ceding land occupied by Russia since 2014 and expanded since the invasion. But President Zelensky simply cannot accept that, not after the sacrifices his country has made trying to recapture the territory and stop further Russian advances.
It is hard to understand what President Trump is trying to achieve beyond the optics of being seen to broker some sort of ceasefire, however one-sided.
Only last week he was threatening secondary sanctions against countries like India buying up cheap Russian oil. Now he is preparing to reward the aggressor with a meeting on US soil. The Russian leader must be as delighted with the outcome as Stalin was 80 years ago.
The last time an American president sat down with a Russian autocrat to carve up parts of Europe was 80 years ago in Potsdam. Then, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin drew up the new post-war boundaries, which effectively let the Soviets retain influence over the great swathes of Eastern Europe conquered by the Red Army. Britain was represented, firstly by Churchill and then by Clement Attlee after Labour’s 1945 election win. But no one attended from the countries whose fate was being decided.
Something similar is about to unfold in Alaska this week. Donald Trump is to meet Vladimir Putin to decide the fate of Ukraine between them. The White House hinted at the weekend that Volodomyr Zelensky may be invited as well, but this is not confirmed. Nor is it certain that the Russian leader would turn up if he is.
Mr Trump has been determined since assuming the presidency to end the conflict but seems to take the view that to do so it is Ukraine that will have to give way. He has already stated that any deal would involve “territory swaps”, which presumably involves ceding land occupied by Russia since 2014 and expanded since the invasion. But President Zelensky simply cannot accept that, not after the sacrifices his country has made trying to recapture the territory and stop further Russian advances.
It is hard to understand what President Trump is trying to achieve beyond the optics of being seen to broker some sort of ceasefire, however one-sided.
Only last week he was threatening secondary sanctions against countries like India buying up cheap Russian oil. Now he is preparing to reward the aggressor with a meeting on US soil. The Russian leader must be as delighted with the outcome as Stalin was 80 years ago.