London’s The Guardian published a lengthy lament on Nov. 29 explaining the difficulties Europe has had in keeping Washington on a collision course with Moscow over the Ukraine war. “Depressingly for Europe, that means that no matter how frequently it managed to push the Trump pendulum away from Russia, the pendulum reverts back to a natural position of sympathy for Putin. Every time Europe feels it is on the verge of locking Trump into the belief that Russia is an aggressor that threatens European and, by extension, U.S. security, Trump gives Putin another chance, ‘another two weeks.’ another phone call. Trump’s one fixed belief is that Ukraine cannot win the war, and should cut its losses.”
As all competent military analysts concur, however, Ukraine in fact cannot win the war.
London was particularly dismayed at the emergence of the latest 28-point memo, The Guardian reports unabashedly, which it lays squarely at Steve Witkoff’s doorstep. “Once again blind-sided by Trump, European leaders read paragraph after paragraph of the U.S. proposal with a mixture of disbelief and panic.” They quote Josep Borrell, the former head of EU foreign affairs: “With the 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine, Trump’s United States can no longer be considered an ally of Europe, which is not even consulted on matters affecting its own security. Europe must acknowledge this shift in U.S. policy and respond accordingly.”
The article notes that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has done his level best to help Europe’s sabotage. “After a phone call with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on 21 October, the U.S. Secretary of State and acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio concluded that there was in fact no point in Trump meeting Putin.” Europe took other measures: “Europe is now well-drilled in responding to Trump’s occasional lunges to rehabilitate and reward Putin: first, welcome the fact of Trump’s intervention, before slowly and politely smothering it…. Rather than substitute an alternative, the Europeans chose instead to gut the Witkoff project.”
London then turned to their allies in Washington. “The disputes within the U.S. administration could no longer be concealed—principally the feud between [Vice President J.D.] Vance and Rubio. This helped the Atlanticist wing in the Senate, already worried about the president’s plunging poll ratings, to rediscover its backbone and voice…. It left Rubio walking a tightrope, remaining loyal to an unpredictable president but clearly telling U.S. senators that this was not a U.S. plan.”
The article concludes: “But regardless of what emerges from this latest fiasco—and the fierce negotiations may only be starting—the damage to the transatlantic alliance piles up. Europe now has to realize it must confront the Russian question alone…. Trump could yet block arms and intelligence to force through his peace, but it is equally possible this initiative will fizzle out, as Putin rejects the revised terms next week and the war grinds on.”
