Kyiv may be approaching its last chance to end the war with its sovereignty intact. If a peace deal includes two key elements, it should accept

The negotiations over the war in Ukraine are frustrating and tragic. On the one side, a victim of aggression whose plight is more and more desperate. On the other, a brutal aggressor, willing to go to extraordinary lengths to win the war. In the middle, a transactional American president eager for a deal.

It’s no surprise that so many observers have railed against the proposals recently put forward by President Donald Trump and his emissary Steve Witkoff. These proposals appear to offer much to Russia and little to Ukraine – other than an end to the violence. If the negotiations produce a plan that offers Ukraine no hope of security after the war, no Ukrainian leader will accept it. Security is the core of sovereignty, and it would be political suicide to trade Ukraine’s sovereignty for peace.

Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow and director of the American statecraft program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Questions about the Corn Laws and habeas corpus are abstruse and unrelated to modern life – as my French husband is finding. The test should instead ask about soap operas and sandwiches

What medal did Mary Peters win in the 1972 Olympics? How many Scottish ski resorts are there? Where was Florence Nightingale born? Until I got these questions as exasperated screenshots from my husband, I had no idea, like any normal Briton (it’s gold, five and Italy, apparently). They came from an app he downloaded to revise for his Life in the UK test, a prerequisite for applying for citizenship. Other recent questions have featured the divine right of kings, Hadrian’s Wall fort names and trying minor crimes in Scotland. Can the test itself possibly be this hard? We’ll soon find out: he’s taking it next week, if he doesn’t give up and go back to France instead.

Much has been written about the absurdity of the Life in the UK test – it’s inaccurate, partial and sloppily worded , unfit for purpose , a “ bad pub quiz ” – and now it’s ruining my life (in the UK). Home is tense: my husband is tetchy because he has spent years here (he works, volunteers, pays taxes, can identify both Mitchell brothers and responds appropriately when asked “You all right?”), but now needs to prove he is assimilated by answering multiple-choice questions on the repeal of the Corn Laws. I’m mortified, partly because we’re making people pay £50 to take an absurdly hard exam – you need 75% to pass – and partly because it keeps humbling me. I’m a history graduate, but couldn’t tell you the date of the Habeas Corpus Act with a gun to my head.

Kyiv may be approaching its last chance to end the war with its sovereignty intact. If a peace deal includes two key elements, it should accept

The negotiations over the war in Ukraine are frustrating and tragic. On the one side, a victim of aggression whose plight is more and more desperate. On the other, a brutal aggressor, willing to go to extraordinary lengths to win the war. In the middle, a transactional American president eager for a deal.

It’s no surprise that so many observers have railed against the proposals recently put forward by President Donald Trump and his emissary Steve Witkoff. These proposals appear to offer much to Russia and little to Ukraine – other than an end to the violence. If the negotiations produce a plan that offers Ukraine no hope of security after the war, no Ukrainian leader will accept it. Security is the core of sovereignty, and it would be political suicide to trade Ukraine’s sovereignty for peace.

Christopher S Chivvis is a senior fellow and director of the American statecraft program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The actor on being an introverted extrovert, performing as a pearly queen, and becoming a single mother when her husband died

Born in Beverley, East Yorkshire, in 1977, Anna Maxwell Martin studied at the University of Liverpool and trained at Lamda. She made her name with a Bafta-winning performance in the BBC’s Bleak House and has since starred in Line of Duty, Motherland and Midwinter of the Spirit, as well as numerous stage productions. She lives in London with her two daughters. Their father, the director Roger Michell , died of a heart attack in 2021. Maxwell Martin is an Action for Children ambassador and stars in their Christmas short film, Santaland. To donate, visit iamsanta.org.uk .

I am five and having my picture taken at school. On my eye is a medical patch. That’s what they did to you in the 1980s if you had a squint. My dad cut my hair using a bowl, which is why it is such a tragedy.

The actor on being an introverted extrovert, performing as a pearly queen, and becoming a single mother when her husband died

Born in Beverley, East Yorkshire, in 1977, Anna Maxwell Martin studied at the University of Liverpool and trained at Lamda. She made her name with a Bafta-winning performance in the BBC’s Bleak House and has since starred in Line of Duty, Motherland and Midwinter of the Spirit, as well as numerous stage productions. She lives in London with her two daughters. Their father, the director Roger Michell , died of a heart attack in 2021. Maxwell Martin is an Action for Children ambassador and stars in their Christmas short film, Santaland. To donate, visit iamsanta.org.uk .

I am five and having my picture taken at school. On my eye is a medical patch. That’s what they did to you in the 1980s if you had a squint. My dad cut my hair using a bowl, which is why it is such a tragedy.

The actor on being an introverted extrovert, performing as a pearly queen, and becoming a single mother when her husband died

Born in Beverley, East Yorkshire, in 1977, Anna Maxwell Martin studied at the University of Liverpool and trained at Lamda. She made her name with a Bafta-winning performance in the BBC’s Bleak House and has since starred in Line of Duty, Motherland and Midwinter of the Spirit, as well as numerous stage productions. She lives in London with her two daughters. Their father, the director Roger Michell , died of a heart attack in 2021. Maxwell Martin is an Action for Children ambassador and stars in their Christmas short film, Santaland. To donate, visit iamsanta.org.uk .

I am five and having my picture taken at school. On my eye is a medical patch. That’s what they did to you in the 1980s if you had a squint. My dad cut my hair using a bowl, which is why it is such a tragedy.

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

What are the biggest life lessons? Things like how to navigate uncertainty, or what clothes never to wash together? What are the best life-enhancing secrets – big or small – that took years to discover and now need to be shared? Campbell Norris, by email

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com .

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

What are the biggest life lessons? Things like how to navigate uncertainty, or what clothes never to wash together? What are the best life-enhancing secrets – big or small – that took years to discover and now need to be shared? Campbell Norris, by email

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com .

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

What are the biggest life lessons? Things like how to navigate uncertainty, or what clothes never to wash together? What are the best life-enhancing secrets – big or small – that took years to discover and now need to be shared? Campbell Norris, by email

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com .