Art of a deal: how UK and France led dogged effort to repair US-Ukraine ties – for now
Over 11 days of breakneck diplomacy, Kyiv was convinced of need to pacify Trump, but reconciliation may be all too brief
The 11 days of whiplash-inducing diplomacy British and French officials endured to repair shattered relations between Washington and Kyiv, and for the first time put Donald Trump's trust in Vladimir Putin to the test, could go down as one of the great feats of diplomatic escapology.
The dogged fence-mending may yet unravel as multiple hurdles remain, principally the outstanding question of Ukraine's security guarantees, but for the first time, in the words of Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, the ball is in Russia's court. Putin, by instinct cautious, has preferred watching from the sidelines, suppressing his delight as Trump denounced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his face in the White House and wreaked subsequent vengeance by stopping all military aid and then pulling some US intelligence.
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