Ukraine believes it has the upper hand against Russia

European support and the threat of further sanctions give Kyiv the edge over Moscow, according to government source

- SAM KILEY

Vladimir Putin has “only one card” left to play - to prolong the killing in Ukraine, according to a senior source in Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential office as Europe held top-level talks ahead of tomorrow’s summit in Alaska. Zelensky has not been invited to the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. And there are deep concerns that the US president will emerge from the encounter taking an even harder line on Ukraine.

Europe’s leaders, including Keir Starmer, have been corralling US officials and White House insiders, and met virtually with the Oval Office to try to persuade Trump to use the leverage he has over Putin to get him to agree to a ceasefire. Trump told those gathered on the call that he would push Putin for a ceasefire deal at the meeting in Anchorage, but Zelensky voiced concerns that the Russian president, not for the first time, was “bluffing” about wanting a path to peace.

He told the US president that Putin “is trying to apply pressure ... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front” to show he is capable of occupying the whole of Ukraine. A source close to Zelensky told The Independent that Putin only has one goal in mind: “The main thing for Putin is to try to trade land for ceasefires. The ability to kill and to prolong war is the only card Putin has. So, he’s trying to play this card.”