Analysis || There are more ongoing dramas: juxtaposed and with shocking contours
Even when Macron praises the “dear Donald”, the US is deeply removed from the West regarding Ukraine
analysis of Stephen CollinsonCNN
This is how Donald Trump has already transformed the global role of America.
Reluctant to condemn Kremlin’s aggression on the third anniversary of the brutal attack on Ukraine, marked Monday, the United States chose new voting companions in the United Nations, including longtime enemies, Russia and North Korea.
The UN headquarters drama better reflected the new transatlantic fracture than scenes in the White House, when Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, ran hands and distributed mutual flattery.
This was not the only shocking juxtaposition on a day of diplomatic drama that extended from Kiev to Moscow, from London to Washington and New York, with the world powers to play positions in the great global game suddenly shaken by Trump.
One thing is certain for the American president: his desire to make a summit alone with his friend, President Vladimir Putin, triggered a crisis diplomacy torrent designed to end the war in Ukraine, a crisis diplomacy that was frozen for years.
But Trump’s surprising turn to Putin and away from Ukraine came to shuffle old alliances and trigger a race of America’s allies and opponents to shape the peace agreement that plans to conclude with the Russian leader.
foto Getty
Europe has pressure on Russia while the US do the same compared to Ukraine
On the anniversary of the invasion, the world leaders caught the train to Kiev in war time to join President Volodymyr Zelensky – after being criticized by Trump. Among them was the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who sympathized with his host after Trump insulted him again on Monday as a “governor” of the alleged 51st state.
In London, British Prime Minister Keir Strmer, who will follow Macron’s attempt to redirect Trump with his own White House trip on Thursday, said the G7 should take on “more risks” to harm Russia, while announced a new series of sanctions. But Trump wants Russia back to the rich nations club.
In Moscow, Putin condemned European leaders, who suggested being too close to Ukraine to help mediate peace, while making the kind of compliments Trump loves when he says the president is free of such “shreddes.”
Behind diplomatic theater there is a common theme: leaders know that Trump is desperate for a “agreement” that reinforces his reputation and fears that, in his search for political adulation at home and an elusive Nobel Peace Nobel Prize, the President US don’t worry about the details.
“I mean, that’s what I do. I make agreements. All my life is business. It’s all I know how to do: business. And I know when someone wants to do it and when someone doesn’t want him, ”Trump said at a press conference with Macron this Monday.
Trump’s subordinates praise him incessantly for his almost superhuman feat on the negotiating table. “He is the head of negotiators. It is the commander-in-chief. And it’s just because of your strength that we are in this position, ”said National Security Counselor Mike Waltz at Fox Business this Sunday.
The best thing that can be said of President Trump’s little orthodox approach is that it offered the possibility of ending a war that is destroying the lives of young Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and has already killed thousands of civilians.
And if it can reach an agreement with Ukraine to explore its rare land metals and minerals – a large “if”, considering that Kiev has refused the previous loot requirements – he will create a future economic line of economic life line As it reconstructs, and will forge a reason for your administration and others to remain committed.
And no one can say that the president is not acting according to the promises of the America First who convinced many voters to give him a second term.
Trump’s new brutalist approach to Europe has been results. France and Britain are offering themselves to send a “reassuring” force to Ukraine after a peace agreement and NATO states seem to finally begin to significantly increase defense expenses.
But Ukraine – and, by Gaza, that Trump wants to turn into the “Middle East Riviera” after sending the Palestinians to the other side – it’s not a real estate business.
Pacification involves human lives, historical animosities, and complex calculations, including the existential question of knowing if Ukraine will survive and what a Putin’s “victory” would mean for future European security. There is no comparison with branding business and acquisitions Trump made for casinos, golf clubs and skyscrapers during his career as a real estate promoter.
And European concerns were only exacerbated at Monday’s joint press conference with Macron, when Trump demonstrated his seemingly limited interest and understanding of how a security agreement without security guarantees could reward Putin’s appropriation and launch the land appropriation and launch Bases for future wars. Instead, the President was incessantly complained that the invasion would never have happened if he were in power.
Macron uses its charm
Macron used his extensive repertoire of compliments, tactile body language, and hand -gripped hands that never seemed to end in “Dear Donald.” And even stalled by correcting him in the oval room about his false statements that Washington had almost duplicated Europe’s support to Ukraine.
After visiting the White House, Macron sought another place to go to Trump – Fox News, saying Bret Baier: “I think President Trump’s arrival is a factor of change. And I think he has the US dissuasive ability to get involved with Russia again … My concern is that we have to advance quickly. But we need something first, a truce, which could be evaluated and verified, and a full negotiation. ”
Earlier, after heading to Trump in the White House, Macron said: “We want peace; He wants peace. We want peace quickly, but we don’t want a weak agreement. ” The French and the British want safety guarantees for Ukraine which, according to them, can only be reinforced by an American backstop, if it is likely to prevent Russia from restarting the war.
“The fact that there are Europeans who are willing to strive to obtain these security guarantees and now have a clear American message that the US, as allies, are willing to provide solidarity for this approach – is a turning point.” , said Macron. “And this is one of the big areas of progress we made during this trip.”
But as far as “solidarity” is going, it is not clear, since Trump has refused to publicly offer US help. Maybe you don’t want to irritate Putin before a possible summit. Or perhaps you are concerned about a possible confrontation between US and Russian forces if US troops are part of these security guarantees.
Despite Macron’s statements about progress, Trump still sees war through a different lens – as events demonstrated in the UN.
The US delegation voted with some of its most declared opponents, including the Moscow and Pyongyang regimes, against a resolution of the General Assembly that condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine and called for the return of Kiev’s territories.
Later, Russia and the US again voted together together at a security guard resolution written by Washington that did not highlight Moscow’s assault, but appealed to a rapid end of war and lasting peace.
The US resolution was approved 10-0 to the Security Council. But several of the top US allies, including the five permanent members, France and Britain, abstained. According to a European diplomat, both countries proposed changes to Washington’s resolution, with the aim of inserting references to the United Nations Charter and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. But Russia vetoed both. “Russia continues to expect international law and the United Nations Charter, continuing its aggression against Ukraine,” said the diplomat.
This distance between Washington and the allies he protected since World War II was naked in the Oval Room when Trump was asked if Putin, who killed and arrested his opponents, was a “dictator.”
“I don’t use these light -spirited words,” said Trump days after he applied the title to Democratically elected Zelensky.
This attracted a crooked gallic smile and a look aside from Macron. But it also summed up its huge task.
