The Europeans are reportedly worried that U.S. President Donald Trump is in the process of handing the Ukrainian war against Russia off to them and blaming them if it fails. According to a report in Financial Times, unnamed European officials are pointing to Trump’s declaration a few days ago, in which he claimed that Russia’s economy is failing and that Ukraine could retake all of the territory it has lost to Russia and perhaps more.
While Trump’s new stance was welcomed in some quarters, several European officials concluded that he was handing them responsibility for Ukraine’s defense with expectations that Europe would find hard to meet. Trump has also taken a stronger position on sanctions, calling on the EU to halt purchases of Russian oil and hit China and India with tariffs—steps that Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, a Trump ally, has long said he would block.
