What will Zelensky’s fate be?

We resemble pilgrims. Because of the war, no one can fly to Ukraine, and so we travel, romantically, by night train. ‘We’ means assorted European dignitaries, a thin sprinkling of Americans, and the media. I find myself sharing a cabin with a former president of the European parliament. The holy day is Monday, the third anniversary of the Russian invasion. We emerge, yawning and crumpled, into the sub-zero dawn. The collective object is to show our devotion to Ukraine’s struggle. This year, our numbers are swollen because of Donald Trump. (In a Polish service station near the border I noticed a magazine cover in which his face is superimposed on that of Neville Chamberlain at Heston aerodrome.) It is alleged that all 27 European Commissioners are in town. They are led by Ursula von der Leyen. President Zelensky meets them.

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As last year, I am attending the YES Special Meeting. YES stands for Yalta European Strategy, and is organised by the British-based Ukrainian tycoon Victor Pinchuk. Last year, its title was ‘Stay in the Fight’. This year, it is called ‘Time to Win’, which feels forlorn. The word ‘Yalta’ recalls how eastern Europe was abandoned as the price of victory in the second world war, by an American president. The phrase ‘European strategy’ has a ring to it, but a hollow one. To me, at least, there is a 1930s League-of-Nations atmosphere: a gathering of worried people who think they are good and their opponents – now widely agreed to include the United States – are bad, but do not know what to do about it.

As I enter the conference in the Hyatt hotel, the security check keeps squeaking with alarm, even though I have handed over everything metal.