There has been much and justified focus on the implications of a likely deal between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and the overwhelmingly negative consequences this will have for Ukraine and Europe.

But if Trump and Putin make a deal, there is much more at stake than Ukraine’s future borders and Europe’s relationship with the US.

On the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s future is more in doubt than it has been since February 2022. For once, analogies to Munich in 1938 are sadly appropriate. This is not because of a mistaken belief that Putin can be appeased, but rather because great powers, once again, make decisions on the fate of weaker states and without them in the room.

Similar to the pressure that Czechoslovakia experienced from both Germany and its supposed allies France and Britain in 1938, Ukraine is under pressure from Russia on the battlefield and the US both diplomatically and economically.

Trump and his team are pushing hard for Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russia and accept that some 20 per cent of Ukrainian lands under Russia’s illegal occupation are lost. In addition, Trump demands that Ukraine compensate the US for past military support by handing over half of its mineral and rare earth resources.

The American refusal to provide tangible security guarantees not only for Ukraine but also for allied Nato troops if they were deployed to Ukraine as part........

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