A blunt, no-nonsense summary: Merz plans a Wednesday virtual Ukraine session with Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders to prep for possible peace talks with Putin, focusing on territory and credible security guarantees. The European segment will come before talks with Trump and US VP JD Vance and will include France, Britain, Italy, Poland, Finland, plus EU chief von der Leyen and NATO chief Rutte, with Zelensky joining. Separately, Alaska hosts prep for a Friday Trump-Putin summit aimed at ending the war, though Zelensky isn’t expected to attend. European leaders worry a Trump-Putin framework could sideline Kyiv, while a joint leaders’ declaration emphasizes Kyiv must decide its fate and seek solid security guarantees, with no explicit NATO membership. Germany repeats that Ukraine must participate and cautions against decisions on territory without Kyiv and Europe. Zelensky says Ukraine won’t concede territory and that any territorial changes must fit Ukraine’s constitution. Reports say Putin seeks full control of Donetsk and Luhansk, while Ukraine still holds only small parts of Luhansk and about a quarter of Donetsk.

Here’s the brutal truth, straight and loud: this whole setup smells like another round of big-player theatre dressed up as diplomacy. a “framework” talks, “credible guarantees,” and a map with ink as dry as time itself, while Kyiv holds the sack and bears the consequences. Putin wants the east, full stop, and Europe pretends it isn’t a land grab when the borders are sketched on a napkin. Kyiv insists on its constitution and sovereignty, but the clock keeps ticking and the guns keep firing. The Western chorus wails about Kyiv’s inclusion and “security guarantees” like a prayer, but guarantees are only as good as who’s willing to enforce them—and the enforcement bandwidth is thin as a sheet, with sleepwalkers in Alaska and Sachsen-like patience wearing thin.

This is copiar-and-paste diplomacy: a lot of words about ensuring Ukraine’s future while letting the big players juggle leverage, optics, and timelines. The Alaska/Trump angle screams: “We’ll sell you a peace, but you won’t actually win it.” Don’t forget: Putin’s map is not a metaphor; it’s a plan to redraw borders, and Kyiv’s constitution is the shield—so any deal that sells that shield short is a betrayal in plain sight. And yes, the EU and Germany are right to demand Kyiv’s say and real participation, but the real test will be whether they back it up with real, verifiable guarantees and, crucially, a credible path to security that Kyiv can trust—not promises whispered in back rooms. Nu, das is politics with a twist, and it smells like a long winter for Ukraine unless somebody finally brings real teeth to those guarantees.