The great fears of the European allies of Ukraine about what it is for the safety of the old continent the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Europe is left out of the dialogue table launched on Wednesday with the Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin in which they agreed to start the negotiation to end the Ukraine War “immediately.” President Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, was only informed after it occurred.
Although the initiative of the new Trump administration has been outlined for weeks – which seems to be leaving aside and in a very hard situation to Ukraine – it has caused some shock and alarm in European capitals. It is a change in American position and, also, a significant step in the conflict. Also the finding that Washington intends to close this chapter soon and that, later, Europe must face both the reconstruction bill – a minimum of – and the responsibility of guaranteeing postwar security.
The NATO general secretary, Mark Rutte, has stressed this Thursday that any peace conversation must lead to a “lasting” solution. “Ukraine must participate in everything that has to do with Ukraine and will be in any peace negotiation,” he insisted at a press conference after a meeting of defense ministers of the Atlantic Alliance in Brussels.
As leader of the organization that combines Europe and the United States in the defense of common security, Rutte has tried to reduce importance to the divergence between them. “We all want peace in Ukraine sooner rather than later. We all want Ukraine to be in the best possible position when the conversations begin, and it is crucial that, whatever happens with [esas conversaciones]be durable. ”
In the NATO headquarters, the new Secretary of Defense of Trump ,, who means moving the perspective that Ukraine recovers the borders prior to the Russian annexation of Crimea. And he has stated, sharp, that “it is not a betrayal” for kyiv.
However, both the signs that arrive from the United States and the warmth of Trump’s tone in his comment about the conversation with Putin – leading environment and the American spoke of the possibilities of collaboration of the two countries – worry in Europe. “They are making it clear that we are alone, that the US will not play any role in the maintenance of peace and that their priorities are going to be others,” says a high European source, which remarks that the future peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine will also be key to European security architecture. “We cannot afford a bad agreement, but it is not so clear how it will end,” he says.
The meeting of the Defense Contact Group for Ukraine at NATO held this Wednesday is crystalline: kyiv must renounce the Crimean Peninsula, and Donbás occupied, in the east Ukraine; There will be no Ukrainian members of the Alliance as part of any peace solution, and not US troops on the ground as a security guarantee so that Russia does not invade again.
Europe, Hegesh said, delving into the thesis of the Republican president that the old continent takes advantage of the US In the silly uncle, ”he slipped on Thursday. Washington wants to turn the page and focus more on another theater of operations: the Indo-Pacific.
Hegesh’s words – the renunciation of sovereign borders and to be a member of the alliance – are a gift for Moscow. The German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, has lamented Thursday that Washington has already raised both issues: “It would have been better to talk about the possible adhesion of Ukraine to NATO or about the possible loss of territory of the country only at the negotiating table and not rule out in advance, ”he said in the Belgian capital.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, has also spoken in the same line: “It is not a good tactic to negotiate everything before the conversations have begun,” he said after participating in the NATO meeting in Brussels. “The appeasement [con Rusia] It never works. ”
Russia, the culprit of war
The words of the French Defense Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, who upon his arrival at the NATO headquarters has also noticed “peace through weakness”, show the growing tension with the position of the Trump administration. “Let’s not forget that Russia is still a threat far beyond Ukraine,” added British Secretary of Defense, John Healey in Brussels.
The Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles has remarked in the community capital that “the only guilty” is Putin. “Indeed, there may be an intermediation of the USA [en las conversaciones de paz]but we understand that the European Union and NATO also have to have their participation because we are supporting Ukraine and we will continue to support Ukraine, ”he said.
Europeans, who are costing work to find interlocutors in the Trump team, expect more clarity about Washington’s plans during the Munich Security Conference, which begins this Friday, in which several bilateral meetings are planned with the US vice president , JD Vance, and the envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.
In three years of war, the EU has already mobilized about 124,000 million euros in support of the country invaded by Russia almost three years ago. But the invoice of the reconstruction of Ukraine – also candidate, in addition, to enter the community club – on the East European border before the Russian threat, will be multimillionaire. Beyond that estimate of the World Bank, different observers and analysts believe that the final amount will be superior. kyiv says it will cost a minimum of 565,000 million.
On Wednesday, while the controversial Hegesh launched its barrage in NATO and Trump spoke with Putin, the foreign ministers of several European countries – Spain, Poland, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – met in Paris with Kaja Kallas, and His Ukrainian counterpart. In the appointment at the dialogue table, which seems closer and closer. However, in Brussels, in EU institutions, more and more voices consider that Europe is late, that it has taken a waiting and defensive position, and that Trump will not take it into account.
“That Europe is benefiting from Putin, who has always despised union and has tried to negotiate anything bilaterally,” says another source of Brussels, which calls for anonymity to talk about a very delicate matter. The Russian president and vice president of the Kremlin Security Council, Dmitri Medvedev, has celebrated that Trump has left the old continent aside. “Single and cold Europe is crazy with jealousy and rage,” said, scathing, on social networks. “It shows his true role in the world and his chances of getting a husband. It is not surprising. Europe’s time is over. He is weak, ugly and useless, ”he has launched.
Few pressure levers to Trump
The European Union has very few pressure levers to get Trump to include it in the negotiation. Few voices say in public that the EU is not prepared to face alone, without the support of the US, the support of Ukraine. Before leaving the position of high representative for foreign policy and defense, Josep Borrell recognized him.
“Peace in Ukraine and the security of Europe are inseparable,” said the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa on social networks. “Russia should no longer be a threat to Ukraine, for Europe, for international security. There will be no credible and successful peace negotiations or lasting peace without Ukraine and without the EU, ”he added.
The EU, however, faces an important juggling exercise that, in addition, can definitely crack its unit. This Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, considered by many Putin’s submarine in the community club, has criticized his counterparts gathered in Paris and has been the Trump initiative. “You can’t ask for a place at the negotiating table. You have to earn it! With force, good leadership and intelligent diplomacy, ”he said on social networks.
