It’s not hard to understand Ukraine’s unwillingness to part with even a square inch of its land in exchange for a peace deal. I wouldn’t want to give up the Kenai Peninsula for a peace deal with Russia, or even to surrender Chicken to get a peace deal with Canada. But after Friday’s Alaska Summit between President Trump and President Putin, there appear to be at least the bones of a peace deal, a deal that would stop the killing, and Putin is apparently digging in his heels on keeping not only Crimea, but also the Donbas region.
Ukraine’s President Zelensky is reiterating his condition that Ukraine won’t concede any land for peace. But that’s an option that just might not be on the table.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Sunday that it would be “impossible” for Kyiv to cede territory to Russia and reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire.
Speaking from the European Commission headquarters in Brussels ahead of his planned sit-down with President Donald Trump in the United States on Monday, Zelensky appeared set to maintain his maximalist position towards the war with Russia, and seemingly shoot down officially recognising Moscow’s territorial gains in exchange for a peace agreement.
“Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It’s impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So, it’s necessary to ceasefire and work quickly on a final deal,” the Ukrainian president said.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will also be in the White House meeting alongside President Zelensky on Monday, and she’s sending encouraging notes to the Ukrainian leader:
Great to have you here, dear @ZelenskyyUa.
We continue our cooperation to achieve a just peace that respects Ukraine & Europe’s vital security interests.
With the Coalition of the Willing in Brussels today, and in the White House with @POTUS tomorrow ↓ https://t.co/HF9Tj5TLgj
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 17, 2025
It appears a lot of Europe’s leaders are headed for Washington on Monday, although it’s unclear how many of them will be included in any meeting between President Trump and President Zelensky.
(Germany’s) Chancellor Merz is among the European leaders who said on Sunday that they intend to join Zelensky on his trip to Washington for talks with President Trump, perhaps out of concern of a potential re-run of the disastrous Oval Office meeting in February when Trump ejected Zelensky from the White House after a public confrontation.
Other leaders who will join the delegation will include British Prime Minister Starmer, French President Macron, Italian Prime Minister Meloni, Finnish President Stubb, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
That’s a lot of horsepower. What remains to be seen is how much other stuff associated with horses may be present.
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There would seem to be a binary solution here. Ukraine’s lost Crimea; it’s impossible to see any scenario where Russia doesn’t keep that territory. Donbas may well be the sticking point, and what options are there? To surrender Donbas, or to keep fighting, keep demanding the United States and Europe pour in millions of dollars and euros in aid? Donbas may be the price for peace. That may well be the deal that’s on the table. And, in the end, the United States and the other nations of Europe will have little to say about it; it all will come down to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.
It’s not just, and it’s not right. But that may be the deal that can be made. It will, at least, end all the killing. And the resulting peace may be a wake-up call for Europe, that Tsar Vladimir I is still an aggressor, still has ambitions to establish a new Russian Empire, and that the nations of Europe had better get their feces cohesive.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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