Volodymyr Zelenskyy finds himself in an impossible bind: risk Donald Trump’s wrath or accept a quick deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine by paying the disastrous price of ceding territory for vague security guarantees that could see Moscow come back stronger in a few years’ time.
This is the existential dilemma confronting the Ukrainian leader, who arrived in Washington late Sunday for talks with the U.S. president the following day. Fresh off a summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin that bypassed a ceasefire, Trump is leaving Zelenskyy with little room to maneuver.
The situation is made even more tenuous by the memory of his last visit to the White House in February that erupted into a bitter exchange between Zelenskyy and Trump and briefly led to a halt in military support. This time a coterie of European leaders is accompanying him, but they have questionable leverage and haven’t always been on the same page.
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