“The Greatest Betrayal Of A European Ally Since 1945” – Trump Caves to Putin On Ukraine

Ukraine being forced to cede part of its country to Russia would be the “greatest betrayal of a European ally” since Poland in 1945 says Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, anticipating Trump’s announcement this evening that he and Russian leader Putin had spoken by phone and agreed to end the war essentially on Russian terms, with no possibility of Ukraine joining NATO to assure itself of security going forward.

At a time when an aggressive Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union and potentially expand into the Baltics, Trump looks like he is giving the war over to the enemy of Ukraine and the West.

He has just announced that he has spoken repeatedly to Putin and once to Ukrainian leader Zelensky about negotiations that would begin "immediately" on a ceasefire and an end to the war in Ukraine.

He said that Ukraine has no chance of getting back its original borders, and that it can forget about joining NATO. Instead, security guarantees should be backed by "capable European and non-European troops".

Russia is now spending more on its war machine than the whole of Europe combined. If the US pulls out, it negates all the effort that America has put into the support of freedom in Ukraine up to this point, and leaves the duty to Europe.

In other statements Trump has said that he plans to leave NATO anyway.

Former Fox television presenter turned defence secretary Hegseth said the US would no longer "tolerate an imbalanced relationship" with its allies and called on Nato members to spend much more on defence.

Both men spoke as if it was Ukraine’s drive to return to the pre-war borders that was keeping the war alive, instead of stating right out that the only thing needed to stop the war was for Putin’s army to stop shooting. Russia is the aggressor, as anyone except Trump could see.

Not true – Musk couldn’t see it either. He has supported Russia from the beginning, cutting off Ukraine’s use of the Starlink system just as it was launching a key military operation.

According to the BBC: “Speaking to the Guardian, Zelensky said if Trump was able to get Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table, the Ukrainian president planned to offer Russia a straight territory exchange, giving up land Kyiv has held in Russia's Kursk region since the launch of a surprise offensive six months ago.

"We will swap one territory for another," he said, but added that he did not know which part of Russian-occupied land Ukraine would ask for in return.”

Democratic opponents have accused Trump of being too close to Putin, who he worships as a dictator-idol, and say his approach to the war amounts to surrender for Ukraine, which would in turn endanger all of Europe.

Democratic Senator Adam Schiff wrote: "Today, President Trump called our enemy, Russia, before calling our ally, Ukraine. Meanwhile, his Secretary of Defense ruled out a future for Ukraine in NATO and a restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty over its own lands." He called this a "surrender of Ukraine’s interests" and accused Trump of being a "great dealmaker" for the Kremlin.

Estonian politician Mihkelson embodied the fears of Europe:

With this announcement, Trump ends Ukraine’s dream of repossessing Crimea, long a part of the fabric of the country.

Trump is also holding Ukraine to the delivery of key minerals, to help “pay for” previous US aid.

In fact, Europe has been the key backer of Ukraine, not the US:

For the first time in decades the US actually had a good use for its hugely inflated military budget and it didn’t even reach 1/10 of what it spent in a single year over 3 years. As a percentage of GDP, Europe again was carrying the most weight, with Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania top the ranking.

Britain’s PM Sir Keir Starmer asserted that Britain would not soften its support for Ukraine, saying it “needs to be in the strongest possible position” ahead of any talks.

Former UK armed forces minister Sir Nick Harvey expressed dismay at Washington for “ditching support to Ukraine before its hoped-for negotiations have even begun” and said the shift in policy “smacks of blackmail”.

Well before this betrayal, Trump had worked against Ukraine. He froze military assistance to Ukraine that had been approved. He spread the rumor that Ukraine was responsible for irregularities in the 2016 election. In 2019 he held up a meeting with Zelensky conditional on digging up corruption charges against Biden. He turned Ukrainian policy over to Rudy Giuliani, one of the Trump court’s least capable intellects.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, reaffirmed Ukraine’s territorial integrity, declaring, "Ukraine's independence and territorial integrity are unconditional." She stressed the need for Europe to play a central role in strengthening Ukraine and providing robust security guarantees in any negotiations.

Maybe Trump is counting on using the money he saves by selling out Ukraine, to building his Riviera in Gaza.