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FOr a man who prides himself on conducting diplomacy through common sense and personal relationships, Donald Trump’s sensitivity towards Vladimir Putin This has long puzzled observers – and caused immense distress to those who have the most to lose from it. It appears that he is not really able to see Vladimir Putin for what he is: a cunning, ruthless and brutal imperialist, and a threat to the West.
Some speculate that the Kremlin has Explosive “Kompromat” On the President – but, if so, Mr Trump has indicated he doesn’t care. In fact, the possibility has not stopped Mr. Trump from doing so. Sometimes stand up to the Russians,
If the US President’s priorities were more consistent, it might be easier for his aides to manage them. But, President Trump, despite his temperamental nature, never takes any decision regarding his Russian counterpart. He even openly says that he thinks his Russian counterparts may be messing with him. However, any such impatience is usually resolved face to face or through negotiation Hotline for the KremlinAnd Mr. Trump starts raising Kremlin-related stuff again. His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, looks equally hopelessly stunned.
Unfortunately for Ukraine and its European allies, President Trump does not seem so willing to treat Volodymyr Zelensky As an equal, neither listens to him with much respect. Vladimir Putin, however, is misleadingly perceived as another “strong man” with the ability to make all kinds of lucrative deals, even when he disappoints his American friends by bombing Ukrainian schools and care homes. Mr. Zelensky, despite agreeing to negotiate based on every peace proposal made by Mr. Trump, dressing up as required and accepting a lucrative minerals deal, is treated like he is. painful contempt,
The details that have emerged from the recent encounter between the pair are, sadly, all too credible. The honest Ukrainian leader prefers to speak in his imperfect English and try to stand up for his brave homeland, and has the unfortunate habit of being able to annihilate Mr. Trump while trying to do the opposite. So there was a hue and cry, some cursing – and perhaps no president since Richard Nixon dropped as many F-bombs as Mr. Trump – And the maps of Mr. Zelensky’s country were thrown aside. Simply because the meeting was private, it could be said to be less humiliating and less of a disaster for Ukraine than the infamous Oval Office brawl in February. This meeting certainly did not last long, which is a sharp contrast to Mr. Trump’s recent meeting phone conversation with putinfew days back. Needless to add, Mr. Zelensky did not understand this tomahawk missiles He had asked.
Instead, the Ukrainian leader was first asked to settle the war on Russia’s current terms – surrendering the entire Donbass region, including large swaths of strategically important territory that the Russians have yet to capture after more than two years of fighting. Perhaps less worrying is that Mr Trump now advocates the simplest solution of all – that the fighters should simply close down existing forward lines and “go home”.
On his Truth Social channel, Mr Trump said this in the context of real estate: “Much blood has been spilled, property lines defined by war and courage. They should stop where they are. Let both claim victory, let history decide!”
Whatever “history” ultimately decides, such a compromise poses immediate risks to the West. Mr Zelensky accepts this – but only as a basis for more negotiations. He says Putin “doesn’t want peace,” and he’s right about that. However, given poor state of the Russian economyAnd thus Putin’s war machine, a temporary phase in the fighting and the easing of US sanctions on Russia would provide benefits for the Kremlin – so this is what is being proposed through Mr Trump.
In fact, for Mr Zelensky, it would be better to continue the war to a point where the Russian economy can no longer sustain it – some say a matter of a few months – at best. But such an outcome would enrage Mr Trump Nobel Peace Prize Less likely still), and may attract particularly malicious retaliation. The US could adopt a position of fake neutrality, cutting off arms supplies to Ukraine, even to European powers seeking to purchase them on Kiev’s behalf. If Putin catches Mr Trump in the right mood, the US could ease trade sanctions and economic sanctions against Moscow, thereby kick-starting the war machine.
As has been clear since Mr. Trump won the election almost a year ago, the responsibility for Ukraine’s defense rests with Europe and its allied partners around the world. America is a very unreliable ally; In fact, it has almost changed sides. So far, the “coalition of the willing” formed under the joint leadership of Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron has shown worrying signs of reluctance to ensure that Ukraine can win the war, rather than continuing to offer the minimum necessary to ensure that it does not lose it.
For Europe, it is a matter of money, of technology transfer, of expanding industrial capacity, and of convincing the US to sell advanced weapons to Mr Zelensky’s beleaguered nation. All these components of a successful strategy can be achieved with political will.
Mr Trump, despite his obfuscation and fabrications, knows what he wants – an end to the war on any available terms, a historic rapprochement with Russia. Mr. Zelensky, to borrow a phrase, wants his country back, or at least as much as it can realistically get back if Russia sues for peace. Yet from the first day of Putin’s “special military operation” in February 2022, all of Europe has been unable to define its war goals, and is divided about what they might be.
For example, British ministers no longer declare that “Ukraine must win”. If Ukraine falls, much of the blame will be placed on Mr Trump’s indifference to the rights of small countries and international law, but it will also show that European defense is, so far, only a coalition of the unwilling. The Kremlin will draw obvious conclusions.