On Good News, or How Ukraine’s Voice Is Born

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The key outcome of the Alaska meeting for the United States is Zelenskyy’s invitation to Washington and the prospect of a trilateral summit that could define the contours of a future peace treaty.

This constitutes a definitive success. Stalin and Churchill, and later the three of them with Roosevelt, divided the world without involving any other parties. Leaders of the satellite countries were informed only afterward. When someone, such as the Polish Prime Minister Mikolajczyk, disagreed with decisions made about Poland’s future without Polish representation, he was simply replaced by another leader.

Similarly, the Americans, Chinese, and Soviets concluded the Korean War without the consent of South Korea’s then-leader, Syngman Rhee, whose agency was effectively nonexistent.

At a minimum, for now, to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, Trump and Putin require Zelenskyy. This represents Ukraine’s principal success: neither Moscow nor Washington can finally determine the country’s fate without Ukraine. While they may present Zelenskyy with a ready-made plan and negotiate only the details, these circumstances reflect the realities of Ukraine’s limited sovereignty, which remains almost entirely dependent on Western support, financing, and intelligence.

The most important outcome is that the world’s capitals have come to recognize: Ukraine can be abandoned without assistance in its confrontation with Russia, but it cannot be compelled to capitulate or accept any ceasefire conditions. This is how the subjectivity of the Ukrainian state in international politics is established—subjectivity paid for with the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and the suffering of millions. This subjectivity, albeit dependent on Western support, is the principal achievement of this war. At present, the future of Ukraine cannot be determined without Ukraine.

If Zelenskyy, in Washington, agrees to a compromise that preserves Ukrainian sovereignty—even if not over the entirety of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory—it will constitute a victory.

A prolonged pause in the war is urgently needed: to enable legitimate changes in government, to carry out radical reforms, and to prepare for the next escalation of imperial ambitions in the Kremlin, ensuring they do not even consider targeting Ukraine.

At this stage, we appear close to achieving everything possible under the existing circumstances and government. Heroism alone cannot indefinitely replace efficiency.

As a reminder, following the meeting in Alaska, US President Donald Trump stated that both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy want to see him present at a potential joint meeting on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. At the same time, Trump refused to impose new sanctions against Russia and confirmed that he discussed territorial agreements and security guarantees for Ukraine during the negotiations.

It later became known that US President Donald Trump plans to hold a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin on August 22. The American president informed Ukrainian and European leaders of this during a joint telephone conversation. At the same time, Putin has not yet publicly agreed to attend the meeting with Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders issued a joint statement after Trump met with Putin in Alaska on August 15. They welcomed the White House’s initiatives for a peaceful resolution to the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. Brussels said it was ready to join the organization of a trilateral summit involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. They stressed that Kyiv must receive reliable security guarantees to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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