A sober observer assessing the US president’s claim may react the same way as Zelenskyy – with shock and disbelief

• Zelenskyy says US has agreed to offer Ukraine ‘strong’ 15-year security guarantees

A deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine was “95% done”, Donald Trump claimed after his meeting over the weekend with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mar-a-Lago.

Unfortunately, the 5% still remaining includes the small matter of getting Vladimir Putin to agree to a deal – and there are precious few indicators that that is any closer. Instead, Trump’s claim seems to be the latest in a long line of overoptimistic statements anticipating a swift end to the conflict, starting with his campaign promise that he would end the war in 24 hours.