China's ‘top puppet' Elon Musk poses US national security risks: House Democrats
'The United States cannot and will not accept the scenario where a foreign adversary, one that openly seeks to undermine our global standing, controls infrastructure critical to us, homeland security, military readiness and economic stability,' Gimenez added.
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AllAfrica
16 hours ago
- AllAfrica
Ukraine war diplomacy hits limits of US grand strategy
The recent diplomatic maneuvering between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine provides a textbook example of how American foreign policy elites continue to confuse grand gestures with strategic coherence. The March ceasefire proposals, Donald Trump's phone diplomacy with Putin and the subsequent shifts in negotiating positions reveal not diplomatic sophistication but the persistent American tendency to treat complex geopolitical conflicts as problems that can be solved through the right combination of pressure and inducements. President Trump's recent summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which produced 'great progress' but no concrete agreement, exemplifies the fundamental misunderstanding that has plagued American policy toward Russia since the end of the Cold War. The notion that personal relationships between leaders can transcend deep structural conflicts reflects a peculiarly American faith in the transformative power of individual agency over geopolitical realities. Trump's apparent abandonment of ceasefire demands in favor of acknowledging that 'Putin wants land' suggests a belated recognition of what realists have long understood: territorial disputes rooted in security concerns and historical grievances cannot be wished away through diplomatic theater. Yet even this modest nod to reality comes wrapped in the familiar American assumption that the right combination of carrots and sticks can ultimately bend adversaries to Washington's will. The Ukrainian conflict presents American policymakers with an uncomfortable truth: the United States has neither the vital interests nor the capabilities necessary to definitively resolve this dispute on terms favorable to Kyiv. The discussion of 'security guarantees' and 'massive purchases of American' military equipment reflects the Washington establishment's preferred solution to international crises – throw money and weapons at the problem while avoiding the hard strategic choices that effective statecraft requires. This approach satisfies multiple constituencies – defense contractors benefit from arms sales, foreign policy elites can point to American 'leadership' and domestic audiences can feel good about supporting the underdog against aggression. What it fails to do is address the underlying strategic reality: Russia views Ukraine's alignment with the West as an existential threat to its security, while the United States lacks both the will and the means to guarantee Ukraine's territorial integrity against a determined Russia. The 'high-stakes meeting' involving European leaders, Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO's chief represents the institutionalized American belief that no international problem can be resolved without Washington's central role. This assumption of indispensability not only inflates American responsibilities beyond sustainable limits but also relieves other actors of the burden of developing their own solutions to regional conflicts. The reality is that the Ukraine crisis is fundamentally a European security problem that Europeans have largely chosen to outsource to American leadership. This arrangement has allowed European allies to avoid the difficult strategic choices and resource commitments that genuine burden-sharing would require while enabling American elites to maintain the illusion that global leadership enhances rather than constrains American power. A genuinely realist approach to the Ukraine crisis would begin with honest acknowledgment of American limitations rather than grandiose promises of support. The United States has legitimate interests in preventing the crisis from escalating into a broader European war and in maintaining stable relationships with both Russia and its European allies. It has no compelling interest in determining the precise configuration of Ukraine's borders or government. The Ukrainian delegation's 'readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire' suggests that even Kiev recognizes the need for pragmatic accommodation with military realities. Yet American policy continues to oscillate between maximalist rhetoric about Ukrainian sovereignty and ad hoc diplomatic initiatives that fail to address the conflict's underlying dynamics. The diplomatic scrambling over Ukraine reflects a broader pathology in American grand strategy: the tendency to treat every international dispute as a test of American credibility that requires decisive intervention. This approach has consistently produced outcomes that serve neither American interests nor regional stability, from Iraq and Libya to Afghanistan and now potentially Ukraine. The alternative is not isolationism but strategic selectivity – the recognition that American power, however substantial, is finite and must be husbanded for genuinely vital interests. In the case of Ukraine, this would mean accepting a negotiated settlement that reflects the military balance of forces rather than the preferences of Washington policymakers. The current diplomatic dance between Washington and Moscow will likely continue until the participants acknowledge what military realities have already determined: Ukraine's future lies in some form of accommodation with Russian security concerns, not in the indefinite prolongation of a conflict that serves neither Ukrainian nor American interests. The sooner American policymakers accept this reality, the sooner genuine diplomacy can begin. Leon Hadar is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and contributing editor at The American Conservative. He is the author of 'Quagmire: America in the Middle East' and 'Sandstorm: Policy Failure in the Middle East.'
RTHK
20 hours ago
- RTHK
Trump rules out US 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine
Trump rules out US 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine Donald Trump the US may provide air support to help sustain a potential Ukraine peace deal, but says Europe will have to provide ground troops. File photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ruled out sending American troops to back up any Ukraine peace deal but suggested air support instead, as European nations began hashing out security guarantees ahead of a potential Russia summit. In a flurry of diplomacy aimed at ending the war, Trump brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to the White House on Monday, three days after his landmark encounter with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska. But while Trump said Putin had agreed to meet Zelensky and accept some Western security guarantees for Ukraine, many details remain vague. Putin proposed holding the summit with Zelensky in Moscow, three sources familiar with the Trump call told AFP. One source said Zelensky immediately said no to meeting in the Russian capital. Trump, long a fierce critic of the billions of dollars in US support to Ukraine since Russia attacked in 2022, said that European nations were "willing to put people on the ground" to secure any settlement. "France and Germany, a couple of them, UK, they want to have boots on the ground," Trump said in a Fox News interview. "We're willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air." Asked what assurances Trump had that US boots would not be on the ground, he replied: "Well, you have my assurance and I'm president." The White House later doubled down on Trump's statements – but gave few new details on either the summit or the security guarantees. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump "has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine" and that the use of US air power was "option and a possibility." Leavitt insisted that Putin had promised Trump he would meet Zelensky, and said top US officials were "coordinating" with Russia on a summit. Trump had dramatically interrupted his meeting with Zelensky and the Europeans at the White House on Monday to call the Russian leader. Allies have expressed doubts that Putin will go through with the meeting. The Europeans are however seizing on the possibility of a peace deal following the Trump talks. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought together around 30 of Ukraine's allies known as the "Coalition of the Willing" for virtual consultations. Starmer told them coalition teams and US officials would meet in the coming days to "prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended," a Downing Street spokesperson said. The military chiefs of staff of all 32 nations in the Nato military alliance will meet by video Wednesday to discuss Ukraine, officials said. Russia has warned that any solution must also protect its own "security interests" and has ruled out Ukraine joining Nato. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added that any meeting between the leaders "must be prepared very thoroughly." Macron said he wanted the summit to take place in Geneva, a historic venue for peace talks. Switzerland said it was ready to offer immunity to Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over the war. Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have both said the summit could take place in two weeks. (AFP)
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Zelensky gifts Trump a golf club owned by Ukraine war veteran
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave US counterpart Donald Trump a golf club during his visit to Washington this week that had belonged to a serviceman fighting Russia's invasion, Kyiv said on Tuesday. Advertisement Trump, an avid golfer who owns several courses, accepted the gift and presented Zelensky with symbolic keys to the White House in return, the Ukrainian leader's office said. The warm exchange marks a stark turnaround from February, when Zelensky left the White House early following a televised shouting match with Trump and US Vice-President J.D. Vance Since that tense encounter, Zelensky has sought to repair ties, flattering Trump in public appearances and praising his efforts to secure peace. 'The president of Ukraine presented the president of the United States with a golf club,' Zelensky's office said on Tuesday. Advertisement The club previously belonged to Kostiantyn Kartavtsev – a Ukrainian soldier who 'had lost a leg in the first months of Russia's full-scale invasion while saving his brothers-in-arms', the office said. Zelensky showed Trump a video of Kartavtsev, it said.
