About Europe without Europe. Why Trump and Putin brazenly ignored the EU
Why Alaska? On Friday, US President Donald Trump intends to meet in this state with the head of Kremlin Vladimir Putin. Did both leaders choose this place because their nations almost come across there? From the coast to the coast there is only 88 km, and from some American islands in good weather you can see the mountains of Siberia. Is this a symbol of close -up?
One of the EU officials presents – half jokingly, half seriously – a different thesis: – Alaska is far from Europe – says.
Trump and Putin want to talk about the end of the war in Ukraine on Friday. The US government has not yet decided whether the president of this country, Wołodymyr Zelanski, will be able to take part in talks. One thing, however, is certain: the EU will not be invited. Its representatives have repeatedly demanded that the agreement between the United States and Russia also include Europe. However, the rest of the world is not too interested in this.
Therefore, the EU is talking to herself for now. On Monday, the ministers of foreign affairs of 27 Member States met on video conferences on the initiative of the Brussels diplomat Kaji Kallas. The purpose of the meeting was to plan “subsequent steps”, as diplomats informed. The sad truth is, however, that Europe's capabilities are limited. Trump and Putin do not seriously treat the continent, which is an economic giant, but a military dwarf.
European helplessness
After the meeting, Kallas said that work was agreed on new sanctions against Russia and additional military support for Ukraine. To end the war, “transatlantic unity” and “pressure on Russia” are necessary. They were diplomatic phrases that only emphasize Europe's helplessness. Empty words without consistency for the real world.
On Wednesday, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz invited to a virtual meeting in which Trump and Zelnski are to take part. Europe seems to be involved in the margins, by phone and video conference. But when it gets serious and world leaders meet personally, the continent remains on the sidelines.
In Alaska, two great powers want to negotiate The fate of the European country – with the exclusion of the EU. And yet the community of countries bears many financial burdens. From 2024, she passed on to Ukraine Over 28 billion euros (PLN 119 billion) assistance. Some were loans, and some subsidies that do not have to be repaid. Nevertheless, decisive conversations may take place not in Brussels or Kiev, but on the edge of the Arctic. Thousands of kilometers from here.
Europe will probably play a role again when fresh money is needed. Specifically: in financing Reconstruction of Ukraine. The European Commission estimates that over the next 10 years you will need over EUR 500 billion (PLN 2.1 trillion). The amount is more than three times greater than the country's economic potential.
All this fits in with a series of events that at first glance do not have much in common, but ultimately reveal the same: A dramatic decline in the importance of the European Union.
Series of failures
At the end of July, the chairwoman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen negotiated new duties in Scotland with Trump and agreed to an agreement, which many later considered a disgrace: lowering almost all European rates to zero and increasing American to 15 percent. In addition, von der Leyen promised that in the coming years the EU would buy oil and gas from the United States for $ 750 billion. (PLN 2.7 trillion).
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Japan, Osak, 2019.
Another example: Players in the Middle East – for example Israel and Iran – look primarily at the USA and Russia. The EU plays almost no role for them. While European politicians, such as Emmanuel Macron, are demanding, for example, new negotiations with the authorities in Tehran on the nuclear program, Trump in one day in June ordered to bomb the nuclear installations with B2 bombs.
Last week, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace treaty – in the White House. In recent years, both countries have fought two wars to control the region of the mountain karabakh, just below the door of Europe. Only the EU remained “warmly” to accept an agreement in an official announcement.
Trade policy, Middle East, Caucasus, and now Ukraine – Donald Trump gives the tone everywhere, and the EU remains on the sidelines. Like a viewer on the edge of the pitch, which still screams something, but nobody listens to him.
Many people in Brussels are afraid that the US and Russia will divide Ukraine on Friday against the will of Zelanski and the EU. At the weekend, Trump suggested that the government give part of the territory, talking about “exchange for the benefit of both sides”.
Ukraine threatens in the extreme scenario Loss of one fifth territorywhich is the subject of Taboo for Zelanski. He could not make a decision on the assignment, because it would require a change in the constitution, which would cause internal confusion. Trump still insists. Zelanski's position in this matter “worried him a bit” – said the US president on Monday in the White House. “Because there will be some replacement of territories,” he added.
