News of the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, in which they agreed to meet in person to discuss the war in Ukraine, will have come as an unwelcome surprise to Kyiv.
The country is being hit hard. The last 24 hours alone have seen Russia launch dozens of missiles and more than 300 drones at multiple targets. Once again, they include a large amount of civilian infrastructure with further damage to the country's gas supply network, just as the first signs of cold herald a long, hard winter ahead.
Attacks on the electrical grid are already leading to nationwide power outages. For Ukraine's government, it's a sign of Russian desperation. The frontlines are at effective stalemate, involving huge loss of life for incremental territorial gains.
And the Russian economy is feeling the effects of the Ukrainian military's increasingly effective drone strikes on oil depots. So, President Volodymyr Zelensky's big hope was for more American military assistance to keep up that pressure.
Before he boarded his plane to Washington, he seemed to believe that things were going his way. There was optimistic talk about Trump beginning to see the world through Ukraine's eyes, a big shift from that angry, humiliating Oval Office exchange in February when he accused Zelensky of gambling with World War Three.
The failure of the Trump-Putin Alaska summit in August and the intensifying bombardment of Ukraine were – it was thought – all causing the US president to lose patience with his good friend, as he has called Putin.
However, the two-and-a-half-hour Trump-Putin phone call, that took place while Zelensky was in flight, steals a march on the Ukrainian president's big moment. Trump's frustration with Putin was visible when he stated to reporters: Do they [Russia] want Tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so. But the question of whether America will provide the Tomahawk missiles remains unresolved.
Zelensky's expectations for the Washington meeting now face new uncertainties, with the ongoing conflict complicating the geopolitical landscape. As Ukraine braces for another winter of war, the ramifications of this unexpected diplomatic twist loom large.
