By agreeing to a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, Ukraine has turned the tables diplomatically on Russia.
If the Kremlin maintains its military campaign to subjugate Ukraine, it now risks being framed as the obstacle to peace and incurring the wrath of US President Donald Trump.
Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin has always insisted that a ceasefire could only come alongside a final settlement. He has shown no sign of stepping back from his maximalist demands, which would undermine Ukraine’s existence as a functional state. Last week, he told the mother of a Russian soldier killed in action that he would pursue nothing short of “victory”.