Vladimir Putin is playing legal games again to set up a scenario where Moscow dictates the terms. Putin used the St. Petersburg Economic Forum to trash Kyiv’s legitimacy. He argued that "anyone" on the Ukrainian side could legally sign a peace deal. The implication is obvious: Zelensky does not count. Meanwhile, Lavrov brought up old history. He claimed that if Washington had pushed the Alaska proposals instead of ignoring Moscow, the war would be over by now. Putin even dragged Zelensky's grandfather into the rhetoric, claiming the World War II veteran must be "turning in his grave" over current Ukrainian policy. Zelensky’s response letter was personal. Kyiv immediately pushed the text to the UN, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe. No diplomatic fluff. Zelensky targeted Putin’s own future, warning that survival will soon replace the war as his main problem. He pointed straight to Russian history. When Moscow runs out of steam, internal collapse follows. It will be fast. Donald Trump also crashed the discussion in his usual style. While supporting the idea of a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, he quickly swiped at Kyiv, reminding everyone that without American billions, Ukraine "would not have lasted a day or two." Behind the scenes, the cracks in the NATO-US alliance are widening. According to internal reports from Politico, the White House is paralyzing itself with fears of escalation and might cancel the planned sale of Tomahawk missiles to Germany. Washington worries that the Kremlin would read the delivery as a direct provocation—even as Russian missiles are already zeroed in on European targets. For Ukrainian allies, it is another bad sign. America is backing away from its NATO commitments. Behind the front lines, the pressure on draft-eligible men is tightening. And not just inside Ukraine. Reports from the Czech Republic show strong backing within the EU to strip protection from military-aged Ukrainian men. Meanwhile, the European Commission is already looking at tightening the rules for refugee status past 2027. Back home, things are getting volatile. An internal investigation was launched in Khmelnytskyi after a draft evader lost consciousness during a police arrest, then completely vanished from the ambulance. The other side is not doing any better. State Duma deputy Gurulyov is already talking openly about Moscow quietly laying the groundwork for a massive, fresh wave of mobilization this fall. The war machine is eating through men. The rear guards are running out of options.