MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Now Trump should listen carefully to his loyal European allies

Daily Mail​

a day ago

In October 1986, there was a summit between the President of the United States and the Kremlin leader, at a remote and chilly site on the edge of the Arctic. The Reykjavik meeting ended in what seemed to be failure.
At the time, though it is little recalled now, there was still a great deal of mistrust between the White House and Moscow and the Soviet Union was still a highly repressive one-party police state.
The liberalism of perestroika and glasnost were only just getting under way. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev tried to achieve too much, and as a result seemed to have achieved nothing.
Later it became clear that the failed negotiations had opened the way for a more modest but workable deal which – a year later – was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
So it may be too soon to reach a final verdict on the Alaska encounter. After all, we know almost nothing about what took place. The next few days may reveal more, as Mr Trump briefs Ukraine 's President Zelensky and his European allies, and as Mr Putin leaks what it suits him to leak.
But so far, the Trump-Putin get-together at Anchorage is not looking good for the interests of the West or Ukraine. Simply by welcoming Mr Putin to American soil, Mr Trump gave him a major prize, a reprieve from the pariah status he has endured since he invaded Ukraine in 2022.
By going still further, and treating him with exaggerated respect on the red carpet and in the open part of their meeting, Mr Trump strengthened the image of the Russian dictator at home and among his own allies.
It is hard to see how this can lead to a good end. Some sort of humiliation of Ukraine, by loss of territory or by diplomatic isolation from Nato, or both, is the logical conclusion.
By behaving in this way, Mr Trump also sent a dangerous message to all the world's rogue states and tyrants, that under him the USA is prepared to forgive and forget truly outrageous international behaviour.
Maybe this is just the New World Order, as the old slogans of 'America First' are turned into policy in Washington DC. If this is so, then democratic Europe is going to have to decide how much it is prepared to spend, and how far it is ready to commit itself, to replace the lost influence of the USA.
A week ago we praised Mr Trump for having the courage to seek peace. And he was right to do so. Diplomacy requires courage. Big stakes cannot be won without big risks.
But when you sup with the devil you also need a very long spoon, and it is not clear that Mr Trump's previous experience with deal-making has ever brought him into contact with an opponent so wily and merciless.
We still hope that the US President can obtain a civilised bargain. We still think the effort was worthwhile. But he should listen very carefully to America's loyal allies before he takes the next step. There should, for sure, be no more red carpets and no more rides in the presidential limousine.
And if he is wise he will resist Mr Putin's attempts to get him to come to Moscow.