Donald Trump’s motivation for ending the war in Ukraine is simple, says Eliot Cohen in The Atlantic: “He wants a Nobel Peace Prize.” And that may have certain benefits. For one thing, it makes a “true sellout of Ukraine” highly unlikely. If he merely handed Kyiv to Vladimir Putin – “as some observers say he has always wished to do” – no Nobel. So whenever the conflict does end, it must be on terms that Volodymyr Zelensky and his European backers find preferable to continuing the war. The downside for Trump is that, so far, “nothing on offer seems to meet that test”.

One mistake the US president has made is giving up leverage with “silly concessions”. The meeting with Putin was a “gift to the Russian dictator”, for which Washington received nothing. Agreeing to ease some sanctions on Russia is another “unilateral gift”. Most important: by ruling out sending American troops to Ukraine, Trump has, as it were, “discarded a trump card”. There’s also not much he can do to strong-arm Zelensky. This week in Washington, Ukraine and its European supporters operated with “remarkable coherence and adroitness” – skilfully combining flattery (“indispensable when dealing with Trump”) and an equally essential “quiet firmness”. Part of their newfound poise comes from the fact that, thanks to concerns about American reliability, Europe has been quietly mobilising its defence base. Ukraine is already the largest producer of its own “excellent” military hardware, and even the 20% of its kit that comes from the US will now be paid for by Europe. Where Trump still has leverage is in his power to cripple Russia’s limping economy. Sadly, instead of using it – at least so far – he’s “basking in the chumminess of his KGB-trained counterpart”.

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Cheers…

Rather improbably, Gen Z have discovered the delights of cask ale, says William Atkinson in The Daily Telegraph. It’s an uplifting moment: a generation who were locked in their bedrooms during Covid and got hooked on screens have realised what they’re missing, and are out there trying to enjoy life as it should be.

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