Peter Zalmayev: 'Ukraine was showing all sorts of cards that Trump took away and gave to Putin'

Angela Diffley is pleased to welcome Peter Zalmayev, Founder and Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, LIVE from Kyiv. And he warns, "I'm seeing, I'm smelling a Yalta II. I'm smelling another Munich (1938), where we're seeing appeasement of the aggressor." With this striking historical analogy, Zalmayev captures what he considers the central danger facing Ukraine: the possibility that its sovereignty and security could become bargaining chips in an era Zalmayev describes as great-power "collusion". Zalmayev delivers a forceful critique of the Trump administration's approach to Russia, arguing that Washington is weakening Ukraine's negotiating position while offering Vladimir Putin little incentive to abandon his maximalist demands. His analysis raises questions extending far beyond the immediate prospects for a ceasefire or peace agreement. At stake, he suggests, are the cohesion of the transatlantic alliance, the credibility of Western security commitments and the principle that smaller nations should not have their futures determined by larger powers.