Trump's five big concessions to Putin that are unnerving Europe

BrusselsDonald Trump sells himself as a self-made businessman and a great negotiator who can command and defend the interests of the United States as well as the real estate conglomerate he inherited from his father. However, whether through ineptitude or conscientiousness, the New York tycoon has caved in. in at least five of the main claims Vladimir Putin's maximum before sitting down at the negotiating table to end the war. This maneuver, of course, has unnerved European leaders and has also raised the voice of Volodymyr Zelensky, who sees how the new US administration is weakening his position at a key moment in the resolution of the conflict.

Europe is left without a chair

Trump's decision that has blown up the leaders The main reason why the European leaders have met urgently this Monday afternoon in Paris, where they are discussing how to participate and influence the resolution of the conflict, has been their desire to leave them without a seat at the future negotiating table, despite the fact that the European Union has been the power that has provided the most aid to Kiev during its almost three years of war and is expected to have to take charge of the reconstruction of the Ukrainian country. In fact, this is the main reason why the main European leaders have met urgently this Monday afternoon in Paris, where they are discussing how to participate and influence the resolution of the conflict.

It should be remembered that the negotiation scenario drawn up by the White House is the one desired by the Kremlin: Trump and Putin alone deciding on the war in Ukraine, without taking into account the voice of Brussels or Kiev. It is evident that the inclusion of the EU or Ukraine at a table would strengthen Zelensky's negotiating capacity, and Putin would not have it as easy as the new US administration is making it for him. By now, the Ukrainian president has already said that he does not intend to accept any dialogue between Washington and Moscow that does not take Kiev into account, such as the meeting that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. This Tuesday in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).

Give up territory

It has also caused much outrage among European leaders that the Trump administration has already given up Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine as all but lost. “We have to start recognising that it is an unrealistic goal to return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told last week’s NATO summit, to the astonishment of his counterparts. A large majority of defence ministers from the European allies strongly criticised the Pentagon’s move, with European Council President Antonio Costa among others calling it a “huge mistake”. Zelensky himself has also refused to cede territory.

Goodbye NATO

Partners of the Atlantic Alliance agreed at the last summit in Washington that Ukraine's path to entering the world's largest military understanding is "irreversible." Now, however, the Trump administration is once again moving Ukraine's future away from NATO and ruling out its accession as the result of a peace agreement, which is one of the demands that Zelensky is putting forward to try to dissuade the Putin regime from future aggression. In fact, some European leaders have already come out to remind the White House of what was agreed before the return of the Republican leader. "We must continue to support Ukraine's irreversible path to the Alliance," insisted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer this weekend.

Given the refusal of the US, which controls NATO de facto, the Ukrainian president has called for alternative security guarantees to Ukraine's membership in the entity and, among other things, has proposed that the EU strengthen its military autonomy and create its own army. In this regard, European allies have long proposed multiply its defense capacity and stop depending on the shelter of the Pentagon.

Only European troops

A year ago Emmanuel Macron proposed the sending of European peacekeeping troops on Ukrainian territory in the event of a potential ceasefire or peace agreement. Although most allies were initially opposed, more and more European leaders are openly supporting him, such as the United Kingdom. However, they have called for US troops to be added to further dissuade Putin from reneging on a potential agreement.

However, the head of the Pentagon has already publicly ruled out the participation of NATO as a whole and has closed the door to provide American troops. He also made it clear to Putin that if he were to attack the peacekeeping mission of European troops, Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance treaties would not be triggered, which says that an armed attack against one or several allies is considered an attack against the entire military entity. However, in the usual contradictory signals from the Trump administration, the US special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said this Monday from Brussels that the White House is not ruling out any of the options on the table, including sending troops to Ukraine.

Rebuilding Ukraine, a matter for Europe

The European Union has not only been the ally of Ukraine that has spent the most money on aid and has suffered the consequences of Russian expansionism most directly – energy crisis, high inflation and economic recession – but it is also destined to take responsibility for the reconstruction of the Ukrainian country. The United States washes its hands and says it wants nothing to do with it, and repeats like a mantra that Europeans must fend for themselves and stop depending on Washington, especially in matters of security.

In this regard, Brussels remains committed to accepting Ukraine. as another European partner in the European Union And, despite some reluctance, most member states of the blog are in favour of adding Kiev. Just last Friday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called for "accelerating" the process of Ukraine's accession to the community club and reaffirmed the EU's commitment to the reconstruction of Ukraine, especially in the face of Trump's apathy.