British wartime leader Winston Churchill once said he was an optimist, as there was no point being anything else. The year ahead in Ukraine has given rise to wild, perhaps wilful, positivity from Kyiv and – publicly at least – in parts of NATO that the incoming Trump White House can effect meaningful,

Experts fear deal between US president-elect and his Russian counterpart would ‘enshrine aggression as a legitimate way to redraw borders’

Russia will demand Ukraine drastically cut back military ties with the NATO alliance and become a neutral state with a limited army in any talks with Trump.