A Brief Note on the Difference Between Negotiation and Extortion

As anyone who caught even a bit of the day’s news knows, President Trump, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and the leaders of NATO, the European Union, Britain and several European countries spent Monday at the White House negotiating a possible land swap and security guarantees that could end the Russian-Ukrainian war. But did they really?

Let’s think about the word “negotiating.” All wars end with it, according to the popular saying, but rarely does the aggressor come to the table demanding territory that it doesn’t actually control. Usually, the belligerents discuss which military gains should be formalized and which should be reversed. Vladimir Putin, however, has consistently demanded more land than his military has been able to bring under its control in the three and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. During his summit with Trump in Alaska on Friday, Putin appears to have made a small concession: He is still demanding more land than he has occupied, but not as much as he used to demand. But less is still more.