Donald Trump says that within two minutes of meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, he will know “exactly whether or not a deal can get done” to end the war in Ukraine .

For the Ukrainians and Europeans, there is more than just a whiff of Munich about this summit, with neither party receiving an invitation for the crunch talks.

In 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Édouard Daladier and Neville Chamberlain agreed to carve up Czechoslovakia without representation from the Czech government.

The concern is that this could happen once again with Mr Trump and his Maga acolytes busy discussing “ land swaps ” and criticising Volodymyr Zelensky for arguing that his constitution bars him from doing so.

On the other end of the negotiation is Putin, an autocrat who believes Ukraine is

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