The U.S. president broke the Western consensus, calling Vladimir Putin to start peace talks on Ukraine. He offered the Russian leader a number of concessions even before the negotiations began. And it seems that he did not go to any problem to consult America's allies in the European Union or the United Kingdom on what to do.
"The war is happening here in Europe, so the terms of the ceasefire will affect us immediately"
The situation exposes the painful truth. Europe is on its own now. In Washington, at best, it is seen as irrelevant. The transatlantic alliance, which has been the foundation of European safety since planet War II, has been reduced to a minimum.
Just a fewer hours before Trump and Putin had their 90-minute telephone call on Wednesday, leader of the EU's largest economy, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said he expected Trump to side with Kiev.
In an interview with POLITICO Scholz, he stated that "we can hope and presume that the US will proceed to support Ukraine". This assessment seems hopelessly naive.
U.S. Vice president J.D. Vance held his first gathering in Paris on Tuesday 11 February with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. She failed to get the Americans to decision the discussion to the right track. Vance did not mention von der Leyen that Trump is ready to end American support for Ukrainian opposition against Russia.
Even British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who did more than most to search favour in the fresh White House, did not know what to anticipate after Trump's conversation with Putin.
— The war is taking place here in EuropeSo the terms of the ceasefire will affect us immediately. Europe cannot be just a spectator," said Czech abroad Minister Jan Lipavsky in an interview with POLITICO.
"American safety blanket is removable"
European countries, including the UK, have spent the last 3 years utilizing money and weapons to defend Ukraine, paying more for electricity and accepting millions of refugees.
NABRDALIK/The fresh York Times Agency/East News / East NewsWeronika Gonarczuk and her husband and children escaped from Kharkiv to Wrocław (illustration picture)
According to the Institute of planet Economy (IfW) in Kiel from 2022, European governments have allocated EUR 241 billion (more than PLN 1 trillion at the current exchange rate) for aid to Ukraine compared to EUR 119 billion (more than PLN 496 billion at the current rate) from the US
Europe must now get utilized to the fresh planet without the hope of protecting us from Putin's attempts.
— As American safety blanket is removable, the question is not whether Russia will press on, but where and when," said Keir Giles of Think Tank Chatham home in London.
Think of British Secretary of defence John Healey. He only learned about Trump's dramatic gamut in mid-Wednesday press conference at NATO office in Brussels. He then spent the remainder of the night in the British residence, eating steaks and trying to figure out how to respond to the American move.
US Secretary of defence Pete Hegseth at least brought relief to those who gathered with him in Brussels, making it clear that he considered Putin to be an aggressor, which was missing in Trump's announcement last night.
According to a high-ranking European authoritative acquainted with the discussions, Hegseth expressed this more clearly behind closed doors.
— We know who's good and who's bad, and the U.S. Secretary of defence said.
However, as far as European leaders are concerned, they do not seem to know much about what is truly happening in the negotiations on Ukraine.
