The negotiations over the war in Ukraine are frustrating and tragic. On the one side, a victim of aggression whose plight is more and more desperate. On the other, a brutal aggressor, willing to go to extraordinary lengths to win the war. In the middle, a transactional American president eager for a deal.

It’s no surprise that so many observers have railed against the proposals recently put forward by President Donald Trump and his emissary Steve Witkoff. These proposals appear to offer much to Russia and little to Ukraine – other than an end to the violence. If the negotiations produce a plan that offers Ukraine no hope of security after the war, no Ukrainian leader will accept it. Security is the core of sovereignty, and it would be political suicide to trade Ukraine’s sovereignty for peace.

But here is the problem: in the past, Kyiv and its partners repeatedly overestimated their leverage to end the war on favorable terms, only to find themselves confronted with further Russian gains and a weaker negotiating position months later. That Ukraine’s leaders did this under immense strain and encouraged by western promises of long-term support is tragic but does not change the reality.

For many months after Russia invaded in 2022, Ukraine insisted on

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