Ten days after announcing his diesel deal with Vladimir Putin, criticism of Donald Trump is mounting. The US President has now called on Ukraine to halt its attacks on Russian refineries and is stepping up the pressure on President Zelensky. Europe’s press debates whether Trump is thus promoting Russia’s interests, and how Europe should respond.
The end of the West
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Former EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni (Italy) fears the worst in La Repubblica:
“Over the last ten days, Donald Trump first struck a deal with Putin on exports of Russian diesel, then called for Urkaine’s attacks on Russian refineries to cease, and finally scrapped the new package of sanctions against Moscow passed by the US Senate. Desperate decisions. And pointless too, given that it was the war in the Gulf that triggered the surge in prices. But their pointlessness does not make them any less serious. Europeans find themselves confronted with a US President who presented himself as a ‘neutral’ party between the attacked and the attacker but now seems to have chosen to side with the attacker. And if Trump openly sides with Putin, what will remain of the West?”
US president overemotional
There may be subjective reasons behind Trump’s behaviour, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov suggests on Facebook (Russia) :
“Trump undoubtedly has rational motives. In particular, the desire to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections. But his constant quest to find yet another excuse for attacking Zelensky comes across as far too emotional. ... Trump needs to prove to himself that by acting against Ukraine’s interests, he is doing the right thing. After all, acknowledging the legitimacy of Zelensky’s actions would mean calling his own decisions into question. It’s far easier to portray Zelensky as a bad person who only has himself to blame for what is happening now.”
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Europeans must stand firm
Ukraine cannot simply ignore the pressure from Washington, argues Der Tagesspiegel (Germany) :
“While it no longer receives direct financial aid from Washington, it remains dependent on the US for air defence, satellites and reconnaissance. Even before Trump’s latest interference the Ukrainians were facing their harshest winter since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Now it’s likely to be even harsher. The Europeans must therefore stand firm, continue to support Ukraine and make it clear to Trump that this approach will not bring peace, but at best a Ukrainian defeat followed by civil war.”
Hesitant Europe is the real problem
In the Sunday Times (UK), columnist Matthew Syed counters the criticism of Donald Trump’s deal with Vladimir Putin:
“I recognise that the diesel deal was designed to distract from his calamitous war in Iran. I know he doesn’t give a fig about Ukraine, justice or sovereignty. But given his accurate conclusion that Europe will never give Ukraine what it takes to win, what’s the point of one, two or four more years of a frozen front line, while thousands more Ukrainians perish (more Russian soldiers are dying each day than the UK lost over the entire Iraq war, not that Putin cares) when we will end up in much the same place?”