The Irish Independent's View: As Trump appears to give in to Putin, Europe must prepare for the worst

Irish Independent

a day ago

Today's meeting with the US leader presents similar dangers, but the Ukrainian president, and Europe, cannot be caught on the hop. The pressure may be more subtle and exerted by stealth, but it may feel equally overwhelming.
As predicted, US president Donald Trump appears to have bowed completely to Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands. For Kyiv, this would mean handing over huge chunks of eastern lands which Moscow has been unable to capture. Under what was mooted by the Russian president when the two leaders met in Alaska on Friday, it effectively means Ukraine surrendering its sovereign status, and becoming a client state.
How this fits in with any framework of democracy, or the integrity of international borders as we understand them, is a question with which Europe must now grapple. Neither Mr Trump nor Putin can decide the fates of independent states.
The summit was unsettling for many reasons. For someone who is wanted by the International Criminal Court – to answer for war crimes – to be treated with full honours was troubling, not only for Ukrainians, but for all who decry its invasion.
Mr Trump seems to have succumbed to the persuasive skills of his expertly KGB-trained interlocutor in dropping all demands for a ceasefire and an all-out agreement to end the war.
Ireland's participation in a phone call with the Coalition of the Willing – involving European leaders planning to police a future peace deal – speaks to the new risks. Mr Trump's impatience with the process, and his intention to accelerate dialogue to move to a full peace deal, sounds well-meant.
What alarms Ukraine and Europe is that Moscow will again be let dictate terms, endorsed by Mr Trump, while Mr Zelensky will find himself with his back to the wall. That is why the Coalition of the Willing must stand firm and use all its combined weight to hold Mr Trump to his word to underwrite security guarantees.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will also be meeting Mr Trump today. French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish president Alexander Stubb and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni are also reportedly travelling to Washington for the meeting.
The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon
But the view expressed by the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to 'drag out negotiations' with no commitment to end the bloodshed, suggests talks are now aimed more at damage limitation, rather than securing agreement, based on what's on the table. 'The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,' Ms Kallas said.
If last February's disgraceful humiliation of Mr Zelensky was a boon to Moscow, the Alaska summit was an unexpectedly extravagant bonus. So Europe no longer has any excuse for not preparing for the worst, even if it maintains a fragile facade of hoping for the best.