"Both Putin and Trump expressed essentially similar assessments of the behaviour of the Kyiv regime under Zelensky, who, encouraged and supported by the Europeans, is pursuing a policy of prolonging the conflict." That is what Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin advisor, announced - and in one sentence summed up what is really happening between Moscow and Washington.

Both presidents have a word for Zelensky. But the same word. That is new. Until recently, Trump criticised Zelensky in public while Putin spoke of "the regime in Kyiv". Now their formulations are becoming almost identical - and that is not an accident.

According to the Kremlin, the Europeans are the "instigators". Translated from diplomatic language: NATO, Germany, France and the United Kingdom are keeping the war going, and without them Zelensky would have accepted peace on Moscow's terms long ago. Is that true? A hard question. Does that even matter? No. What matters is that Trump is starting to accept this version.

In the same conversation, Trump publicly stated that "Ukraine has been militarily defeated". That is the Kremlin's language, not Western analysts'. And it is the first time an American president has used it to describe the situation.

The Balkans should pay attention. When two big leaders start using the same vocabulary about a third one, it means they have agreed on how to cut him out. Zelensky today - tomorrow who? Who are our "regimes" in the eyes of Moscow and Washington, if they suddenly decide to talk about us in the same way?

This is a snapshot of how power works in the era of personalised relationships between leaders. Ministerial diplomacy has been replaced by phone calls between two men. Balkan history teaches us: when two men decide the world's fate, the small people foot the bill.