Online Reporter
Prof Steven Duddley-Prince
Belgian ThinkTank
Like or hate Donald Trump, he is fan of realistic power and not borrowed clout and is so daring and cunning when it comes to that.
Since his second bite on power as US President, Trump has shown great respect for Russia and less respect for European Union; removing EU’s borrowed robs of power, which the Joe Biden administration made it believe it had.
The emperor has been made naked!
Since he got into office, Trump has proved that EU leaders do not have the sort of real power they claim to have versus what Russia has.
EU depends of US and when the US coughs, EU catches the cold. The case of Russia-Ukraine conflict has been very interesting.
Trump believes that arming Ukraine against Russia is not the solution but instead negotiating with Moscow is the right thing.
EU and Zelenskyy had over the years since Russia launched the special military operation, been spoon-fed, militarily, by the Biden administration whose express interest was to cover up the foot prints of corruption of Biden and his son Hunter, whose contracts worth billions of dollars, had to be obliterated.
Contrary to weaponisation of Ukraine and open disdain of Moscow, Trump has shamed the EU leadership, stripping them naked of borrowed robs and telling them to follow him, in negotiations and not on weaponising Kiev.
Trump understands that Russia has express and genuine interests that caused it to launch the special military operation in Ukraine and that Moscow has actual intend of a beneficial peace deal.
EU’s hardliner stance against Russia and President Putin in the Ukraine conflict will never win the war and Trump knows that ignoring Russia’s concerns- which are genuine — will not end the conflict.
Trump also makes it a point that Ukraine would not stand for a week against Russia, without US support.
In that matrix, Trump is telling EU that they can ignore Russia’s interests and security concerns plus gains in the war, at the peril of Ukraine.
The respect Trump has on Putin is not political mischief as EU leaders want to put it, but a proper and deep understanding of what Russia stands for and its unwavering positions that led to the conflict.
This makes Trump’s approach very realistic.
Because of that, the EU leaders, have found it the hard way, that they can no longer bank on Washington because their interests are no longer the same.
Biden was a crude but poor tactician, who railroaded the EU deeper into the conflict and left it in deep trouble and economic commitment to a cause they will not win against Russia.
EU’s simplistic, shoe-string and small gate approach on Russia does not work. It has not worked before and it will not work in future.
Putin has proved that he is willing to talk peace, not because he is losing in Ukraine (he will never lose) but because he loves peace too. Putin has proved that he is not in Ukraine for the love of war and power, but to defend Russia’s express interests in the political, socio-economic and security spheres.
NATO expansionism towards Russia is a serious threat that Putin cannot put up with. It is surely crossing the redline and Zelenskyy was so obsessed with being loved by EU at the expense of facts that clearly pointed out the danger of doing so.
The good thing is that Trump has allowed EU to participate in the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as a face saver otherwise, EU would lose its dignity, lustre and relevance forever and ever, Amen.
So, there is still hope in that the small boys in Europe will listen to their big brother Trump so that the remain afloat.
But it is indeed poor judgment, poor leadership and political myopia that has put EU into this precarious position.
The biggest mistake was taking Russia for granted and ignoring its critical interests on Ukraine; it was the bully tactics NATO is used to, and it was just arrogance and abusing Zelenskyy’s lack of political maturity and experience that led to the war.
From the beginning army Ukraine was never a good thing but listening to Russia’s concerns was the cornerstone of the conflict. The war could have been avoided.
But NATO fooled itself and believed it had enough arsenal and military might to arm Ukraine, and to defend that position, EU countries are now struggling financially because they were forced to spent more as the war progressed and they had not budgeted for it.
With hindsight, spot on intelligence, will-power and rational thinking, the EU could have understood that Russia had genuine concerns that Ukraine and its allies should have taken note of.— RT
