Commentators at The Wall Street Journal argue that the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. leader Donald Trump in Alaska has left Kyiv facing two starkly different scenarios.

In the first, Ukraine would continue to exist as a state, though within reduced borders. Under this outcome, Kyiv would secure international security guarantees. Analysts noted that European capitals already appear resigned to the idea that, once a peace deal is signed, Russia will hold on to roughly one-fifth of Ukraine-even if no country formally recognizes that control.

The second possibility is far bleaker. If Moscow extends its grip, Ukraine could lose not only additional territory but also its independence, sliding into what the analysts described as a Russian «protectorate». Such a shift, they suggested, would amount to little more than capitulation.

Observers added that if the West does step in with credible security guarantees, the settlement might echo the end of the Korean War in 1953, when the United States and its allies took responsibility for defending South Korea. Without that, Ukraine’s sovereignty could be fatally compromised.