There’s one way to end the Ukraine war – it doesn’t involve giving Putin land

Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelensky turned up to the White House in a black suit and a spine of steel.

In a meeting with European leaders and President Trump, he showed more poise and patience than most leaders manage in peacetime, let alone in his position.

The valiant leader had already been publicly humiliated in the Oval Office earlier this year, but still kept his cool while Trump did what Trump does in Washington.

But let’s be clear about what it was.

For all of the Ukrainian leader’s flattery (with non-stop ‘thank yous’ and a letter from his wife to the First Lady) and Europe’s strongly worded statements, the day amounted to a full-court press to push Ukraine into a meeting with Putin and a deal that, while not explicitly spelled out yesterday, would almost certainly see land handed t