Even if President Trump and President Putin were to strike a deal in Alaska, it would face a powerful “commander’s veto” on the ground in Ukraine. The deep-seated skepticism and defiance of the Ukrainian military could make any politically brokered peace impossible to implement.
The statements from Ukrainian commanders are unequivocal. They have described negotiations with Russia as “impossible” and have vowed to “stand our ground” and “defeat them.” This is the voice of an army that believes it has been betrayed by negotiations in the past (e.g., the Minsk agreements) and trusts only in its own military strength.
This presents a huge challenge for President Zelenskyy and any political leader in Kyiv. They cannot agree to a peace deal that would be seen as a surrender by their own armed forces. The morale and continued will to fight of the Ukrainian military is the nation’s single most important asset.
Therefore, the soldiers on the front line are not just passive observers; they are active stakeholders whose acceptance is crucial. Any peace plan emerging from the Trump-Putin summit will have to be acceptable not just to the politicians, but to the commanders and soldiers who would be tasked with upholding it.