Should Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin go ahead, one principle must rest at the core of discussions: the United States should not make concessions over Ukrainian territory and sovereignty without having first agreed them with Kyiv.

Early assurances of a swift end to the war and attempts to pile pressure on Kyiv to make concessions were a disastrous mistake, and it is clearly for the good that the White House now appears to understand that Putin is the primary barrier to peace.

It is to Mr Trump’s credit that he seems, belatedly, to have come to this conclusion, and that he has accompanied this with measures targeting Russia’s wartime economy. The declaration that Moscow poses an “extraordinary threat” to the US , and the sanctions on India over purchases of Russian oil, bo

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