How Zelensky can save Ukraine (and himself)

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Tuesday, 12 August 2025 Welcome to From the Editor – the very best from our newsroom delivered to your inbox daily. In a matter of days Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will decide Ukraine’s fate at a hastily-organised summit in Alaska, but one man who hasn’t had an invitation is Volodymyr Zelensky. Today, The Telegraph can reveal that the Ukrainian president is willing to cede some of Ukraine’s territory to Russia in exchange for peace. Below, Joe Barnes, our Brussels Correspondent, explains how Mr Zelensky could save face and ensure his political survival. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. Chris Evans, Editor P.S. You can enjoy a full year’s access to The Telegraph for £29. Today’s headlines The proof that older drivers are not the most dangerous Starmer would not call shoplifters ‘scumbags’, No 10 says HMRC uses AI to spy on social media posts Delete old emails to save water, say officials Why Israel believes Al Jazeera reporter killed in Gaza was a terrorist Vigilante Cycling Mikey pushes his bicycle into a car Hundreds of private school pupils left in the lurch after historic school shuts Jennifer Aniston admits she and Gwyneth Paltrow gossip about Brad Pitt Hard work should pay Unlock quality journalism that champions free enterprise Enjoy a full year’s access to The Telegraph for £29. Subscribe now   Ukraine prepared to cede territory held by Russia Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian strike drones in Dnipropetrovsk Joe Barnes Brussels Correspondent   When Steve Witkoff, a presidential envoy, returned from meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, he brought a tantalising proposition to Donald Trump: a meeting with Putin and an apparent ceasefire offer involving Ukraine ceding territory to Moscow. This was leapt on by the American president, who proposed a summit in Alaska. Ukraine and Europe fear this meeting on Friday will result in a deal being negotiated over the head of Volodymyr Zelensky. Any deal that sees Ukraine forced to give up its land will result in the Ukrainian president becoming instantly less popular among his electorate. Surrendering to Moscow would be the ultimate insult to their fallen countrymen and women. The key to Mr Zelensky managing the process and selling it back to his public will be in the language. De jure recognition of Russia’s control would require a referendum, and would be likely to stoke tensions in the population, enough to hurt Mr Zelensky at the ballot box of any future election. Handing de facto control, which is not legally recognised, in acceptance of the temporary reality of the situation on the ground is more likely. Without concessions, he’d also lose American support and European aid is likely to fade the longer the war goes on. One possibility being discussed among war watchers is a replica of the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed between China and the UK to decide on Hong Kong’s future. The deal saw Britain return sovereignty to Beijing but under the condition that it would maintain Hong Kong’s special status for 50 years. Could Ukraine and Russia agree to recognise that the Donbas regions are legally Ukrainian but managed as if they belonged to Moscow for a set period of time? It would likely settle Mr Zelensky’s problem with a referendum by kicking any real decision into the long grass. But even clever ideas might not be enough to stop Mr Trump forcing a dirty backroom deal on Ukraine. Only on Monday, Mr Trump said: “I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelensky was saying, ‘Well, I have to get constitutional approval’. I mean, he’s got approval to go into war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap?” Read our full analysis of the deal here ➤   Opinion and analysis   Richard Kemp Telegraph columnist and former British Army officer Europe’s leaders have failed Ukraine – they have no right to a seat at the table Continue reading ➤     Ross Kempsell Ross Kempsell is a Conservative peer The Chagos betrayal proves Labour is lying about public spending Continue reading ➤     Roger Bootle Economist and Telegraph columnist It’s time Britain realised that going to university is a scam Continue reading ➤   Make your voice heard Join our journalists in conversation on today’s biggest topics Enjoy a full year’s access to The Telegraph for £29. Subscribe now   Must reads The kidnapping of Shannon Matthews: ‘I believed her mother – then helped arrest her’ ‘Miss Marple on acid’: How Biddy Baxter transformed Blue Peter The reality of British expat life in France, according to three couples The gut health products that really work – and the ones to avoid ‘I applied for 600 jobs and had to cash in my pension’: Your stories of midlife career misery   The best of the Telegraph   Nuclear war has never been more likely. Here’s what it would look like now In May, the likelihood of nuclear war changed. Two nuclear-armed states clashed when India launched missile strikes on Pakistan after a terror attack. The United Nations commissioned a report into the likely causes and results of a global nuclear war – including how many of us might survive, and whether we could rebuild civilisation. Roland Oliphant, our Senior Foreign Correspondent, unpacks this report and says how he thinks Armageddon would begin and how it would affect England. Continue reading ➤   Discuss Every day, our journalists and readers discuss the day’s biggest issues on our app and website. Today, Rupert Christiansen responds to a reader comment on his article ranking the 20 best non-fiction books of all time. David Eaton No Solzhenitsyn, no Dostoevsky. No Jung. It’s hard to take the list seriously without those three on it.   Rupert Christiansen I’m not keen on Jung and felt it was Dostoevsky’s fiction rather than his essays that was so influential. I considered Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago – a stupendous book – but there is something so laceratingly personal about Nadezhda Mandelstam’s Hope Against Hope that it edged Solzhenitsyn out when I came to whittling my longlist down. Coming up today From 10:30am, Lucy Burton will be in the comments discussing her piece: Having a baby shouldn’t be a career-killer. And at 1pm, Ruby Borg will be responding to your comments on her piece: I got a bursary to a top private school. Labour’s tax raid would’ve sealed my fate.   Enjoy our best experience Join us today and you’ll also unlock our award-winning app Enjoy a full year’s access to The Telegraph for £29. Subscribe now   Listen Click below to enjoy one of our agenda-setting podcasts   Puzzles Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.   The solution to yesterday’s clue was CRITIQUED. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle.   Newsletters Read and sign up to our newsletters Telegraph Money • Wednesday Want to be richer? Make your money work harder with our experts + Sign up   Ukraine: The Latest • Friday Critical insights from the hosts of the world’s most listened-to podcast on the war + Sign up   Business Briefing • Daily Step inside the C-suite with the City’s best-connected journalists + Sign up   One year for £29 Subscribe now

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