The stakes are high – and the unity of the alliance against Putin has never been so threatened
When Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies meet Donald Trump in Washington, a huge amount is at stake.
Ukrainian officials are reported to feel betrayed by the US president, who appears to have shifted position to side with Vladimir Putin on a number of key points in the wake of the meeting with him in Alaska.
Trump has undermined the unity of the Western alliance by abandoning their calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s last meeting with Donald Trump at the White House ended in disaster. Pic: AP/ Mystyslav Chernov
He is no longer threatening more severe sanctions, and more worryingly still he seems open to the idea of making the Ukrainians hand over territory the Russians have not yet captured.
He and his real estate lawyer turned rookie negotiator Steve Witkoff seem to believe the conflict can be resolved by an exchange of territory. Putin on the other hand has made it clear he is fighting to extinguish Ukraine as an independent and democratic entity.
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Ukrainians say that for Zelenskyy, handing over land his troops have been fighting to defend since 2014 would be politically suicidal and strategically insane.
Sergeant Andriy Poluhin, from the Ukrainian 24th Brigade, has fought the Russians in Donetsk on and off since 2015 and is currently based in the fiercely embattled town of Chasiv Yar.
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He’s typical of many Ukrainians, appalled at the idea his country would have to hand over land so many of their comrades have died fighting for.
Putin’s claim that he wants to end the war and stop the killing, he says, is self-evidently false.
“It’s a lie, it’s obviously a lie. I think it’s not only my thoughts or Ukrainian ones, but everyone who deals with Russia understands he just lies,” he says.
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Behind the scenes in Alaska with the Sky News team
Many would agree – except the US president himself, who says he believes the Russian leader wants the killing to end.
The challenge for Zelenskyy and his European outriders when they go to the White House is avoiding a repeat of the disastrous Oval Office encounter between him and Trump and his vice president in February.
They need to steer Trump back to their side of the argument without angering the famously thin-skinned president and driving him further towards Moscow.
The unity of the alliance against Putin has never been so threatened.
Charlie Kirk has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump.
The USA’s highest civilian honour was received by the conservative activist’s widow, Erika, at the White House.
Mr Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on 10 September while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.
He founded Turning Point USA and toured American university campuses, debating students about current affairs.
Erika Kirk at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Erika Kirk and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Addressing those attending the ceremony in the White House rose garden, the US president said they were there to “honour and remember a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanised the next generation”.
He said Mr Kirk’s name was being entered “forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes”.
Mr Trump described Charlie Kirk as an “American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest calibre”.
He said his nation had been “robbed” of an “extraordinary champion”.
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Has Charlie Kirk become a MAGA ‘martyr’?
And Mr Trump said Mr Kirk was assassinated in the “prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America”.
The ceremony coincided with what would have been Mr Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Mr Trump described Erika Kirk, now head of Turning Point USA, as someone who had “endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength”.
Read more:
What do we know about Erika Kirk?
Charlie Kirk’s movement is growing in wake of his assassination
Charlie Kirk. File pic: AP
A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, from the city of Washington in Utah has been charged with Mr Kirk’s murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
At a memorial event held at a stadium in Arizona, Erika Kirk told an enormous crowd she forgave her husband’s killer.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said.
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