Ukraine finds itself in the crosshairs of a superpower standoff, as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin engage in a high-stakes negotiation over the country’s future. A two-week deadline set by Trump has brought the long-simmering conflict to a boiling point.
From Washington, the message is one of pressure. Trump has threatened “massive sanctions” against Russia if there is no movement toward peace, effectively making Moscow responsible for the next step.
From Moscow, the message is a complex mix of conciliation and defiance. Putin has praised Trump, calling him a “light at the end of the tunnel,” while simultaneously declaring that Russia’s sovereignty is a non-negotiable, existential issue.
For Kyiv, the situation is perilous. President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown he is open to talks with Putin, but his country’s fate now largely depends on the outcome of the strategic calculations being made in the White House and the Kremlin.