
Three well-fed diplomats dine at an exclusive round table. All three gaze reverently at the nuclear centrepiece they claim to be discussing, while their knives casually slice a giant sunflower on the serving platter into portions. Outside the window, a small figure in fatigues presses against the glass. The image plays on the old line 'if you're not at the table, you're on the menu.'
A possible three-power summit with Ukraine shut out captures a theme readers everywhere recognise: great powers deciding a smaller nation's fate without it. It offers a sharp satirical angle, with the summit officially about nuclear arms while Ukraine's future is quietly on the table, and it translates into a single image with no words needed. The humanitarian stories are vital but lend themselves less to a clear, universal metaphor that also carries this much geopolitical weight.
The story was selected and the image prompt was written by AI. The cartoon image was generated by AI.