Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch: Etsy store https://www.etsy.com/shop/DanielDavisDeepDive?ref=seller-platform-mcnav Western officials continue to discuss sustaining support for Ukraine—with Europe, Canada, and Australia taking the lead and the U.S. possibly stepping into a more secondary role—while maintaining pressure on Russia through new, harsher sanctions. Western leaders claim Russia is losing the war, rejecting diplomatic offramps, and making only minimal territorial gains. Commentators sharply dispute this narrative, arguing it is the West, not Russia, that has refused every diplomatic offramp since 2014, citing the collapse of the Ukrainian peace agreements and the Minsk accords. They contend Russia has consistently remained open to negotiations and that its real military goal is not territorial conquest but the destruction of Ukraine’s armed forces—de-militarizing the country through attrition rather than expansion. During Trump’s recent Oval Office meeting with Zelensky, observers noted Zelensky appeared visibly uncomfortable and far less confident than usual. He had likely expected new U.S. weapons—especially Tomahawk missiles and air-defense systems—but Trump instead emphasized restraint, hinting that America would keep its own munitions and seek a negotiated end to the war. Analysts suggest Zelensky left the meeting disoriented and disappointed, realizing Trump may pivot toward de-escalation and potential talks with Putin in Budapest or Istanbul. The takeaway is that Zelensky faces diminishing leverage: either accept an early, unfavorable peace or risk total defeat later with far greater losses.