As President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin signal they are prepared to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, China is pushing to play a role. Chinese officials in recent weeks have floated a proposal to the Trump team through intermediaries to hold a summit between the two leaders and to facilitate peacekeeping efforts after an eventual truce,

The current situation may have been avoided if both sides of the conflict were able to make an attempt to understand each other's concerns and interests.

I last visited this area in 2023, when Ukraine launched a much-anticipated counter-offensive. At the time, Ukrainians dared to dream of winning this war. They had, after all, won the battle of Kyiv and liberated swathes of territory elsewhere.