The recent summit in Alaska between Presidents Putin and Trump has been wrapped in the usual rhetoric of “hope” and “understanding.” Yet, beneath the layers of diplomatic niceties lies an uncomfortable reality: Washington appears to be edging closer to Moscow’s narrative, with the American stance softening in ways that reveal less resolve than resignation. Trump’s post-summit comments, which effectively pushed responsibility onto President Zelenskyy and European leaders, underscore a curious retreat for a superpower that once claimed to champion Ukraine’s sovereignty.
If this is the path to peace, it is paved with uneasy concessions. The optics are not lost on the world: Russia emerges emboldened, while the United States signals a willingness to settle for less than the lofty ideals it once professed. For Ukraine, this translates into a precarious balancing act between salvaging its territorial integrity and enduring the consequences of great-power bargaining over its fate.
That said, we must not lose sight of what truly matters. Beyond the geopolitics and grandstanding lies the human cost. Every civilian death is an indictment of a system that places political aggression above human dignity. To watch, almost passively, as lives are reduced to bargaining chips is not just cynical—it is profoundly unjust.
A peaceful resolution is imperative, but peace must not become a euphemism for capitulation. The war’s architects, the political players who engineered proxy confrontations, fuelled arms markets, and sacrificed innocents at the altar of influence, cannot be allowed to melt away into the shadows of “diplomatic compromise.” They must be named, held accountable, and brought to justice.
The Alaskan talks may be a step towards quieting the guns, but unless they also illuminate the darker machinery that sustained this war, peace will remain fragile, a veneer stretched thin over unhealed wounds.