On one front, the war grinds on without respite: drone swarms, missile strikes and intelligence operations continue to define daily life along the Ukrainian frontline. On another, almost paradoxical front, two sworn enemies - Ukraine and Russia - appear ready, after nearly four years of relentless conflict, to sit across the same table. The prospect of a tripartite meeting involving the United States has therefore drawn intense scrutiny, not because expectations are high, but because exhaustion is deep.

Both Kyiv and Moscow are visibly worn down. Despite last-ditch efforts to mobilise remaining military, economic and political resources, neither side can plausibly claim momentum decisive enough to dictate terms outright. The war, it seems, must be paused or reshaped, if not resolved. For Ukraine, the urgency is acute. Repeated Russian drone attacks on energy infrastructure, combined with a harsher winter and a perceptible cooling of US generosity since Donald Trump’s return to centre stage, have pushed Kyiv into a deepening energy and social crisis. Survival, not victory, is once again the immediate concern.

It is in this context that Trump’s carefully calibrated pressure campaign must be understood. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, he delivered what appeared to be oblique remarks, but the message was unmistakable: the war must end, and delay would be an act of strategic folly. Kyiv, which continues to see US backing as existential, has little room to refuse such an invitation. With........

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