Eight months of chaotic and fruitless efforts by Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine, capped by his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, put an end to the myth of Trump's special relationship with Putin, and to the myth of the American president's ability to strike pragmatic deals with the most ruthless dictators and strongmen. It is not Trump's transactional mastery, but Putin's intransigence, his refusal to respond to courtship and his lack of fear in the face of threats, that remai...
