FLASH
Shkruar nga Ettore Sequi
For Putin, Kiev is a sacrificial "soldier" on the geopolitical chessboard. But it has become so for Trump as well. With the difference that the former dictates the demands, while the latter seems ready to fulfill them...
The United States' refusal to sign a G7 statement condemning the Russian military's attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed 35 civilians and injured dozens more in a deliberate bombing, is not just a moral capitulation.
On the contrary, it is both a sign of a major shift in American policy and a strategic miscalculation. Washington believes that in this way it can “keep a window open for negotiations” with Moscow. But negotiations cannot be kept alive by pretending that violence does not exist.
And even less can it further strengthen its positions by abandoning solidarity with its allies. If Donald Trump thinks he can facilitate a compromise between Ukraine and Russia while avoiding the irritation of Vladimir Putin, then he misunderstands the logic on which autocracies operate.
They respect firmness, not conciliatory behavior. They despise willingness to compromise when one side shows reluctance. Therefore, distancing oneself from the recent statement of the G7 countries does not create space for the continuation of negotiations, but represents a unilateral concession.
And consequently a sign of weakness. Then there is another implicit message, equally serious: Trump's growing disinterest in multilateral formats, large or small.
To refuse to be part of a joint statement on such an important issue is to deny the very principle of shared responsibility. It is to confirm American uniqueness no longer in terms of leadership but in its distinction from its allies, of an America that does not seek partners but obedient servants.
For Trump, harmonizing positions with Europe is weakness. Even multilateral statements are rejected, mainly because they imply equality with governments that are considered insignificant. This behavior reflects a diplomacy that considers multilateralism an obstacle, and in these conditions the G7 risks becoming a place where empty propaganda is produced.
But there is more to it than that: refusing to condemn the Russians' brutal attack on Ukrainian civilians allows Donald Trump to keep open an alternative narrative in which Moscow is not to blame for the war in Ukraine. He had it before: the responsibility lies with Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden.
Trump thus achieves the opposite result: the more he appears willing to ignore Russian aggression, the more Moscow is encouraged to escalate it. Attacks like the one in Sumy are cruel tools that Putin uses to show that the peace Trump seeks is still far away, and to force him to put pressure on Kiev as the weak link in the chain.
This closeness to Russia reveals that for Trump, Ukraine is not the center of negotiations, but simply part of a broader plan. The real goal is to restore a strategic relationship with Moscow that goes beyond war and touches on economic, trade and energy issues.
Trump aims to reach broader agreements: joint exploitation of natural resources, new forms of economic cooperation, a common approach to Iran, and even the possibility, albeit illusory, of breaking up the alliance between Russia and China.
In this context, Kiev becomes an obstacle rather than a priority. A problem to be neutralized, not an ally to be protected. But in parallel, Europe and NATO are trying to maintain support for Kiev.
The alliance's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, recently promised Zelensky that "NATO's support will continue." On the one hand, Washington is reducing its multilateral engagement. On the other, Europe is struggling to maintain a strategic cohesion that is increasingly fragile.
For Trump, NATO and the G7 do not represent more tools of joint leadership, but rather constraints from which America must be freed to have as much freedom of action as possible in defense of its interests.
America, which rejects the G7 solidarity towards Ukraine, which exonerates Putin and accuses Zelensky, is no longer the guarantor of international balance. Meanwhile, Russia has already realized that pressure is working, and if it does not encounter resistance, it will be able to dictate the terms of a peace that resembles a capitulation of Ukraine.
Added to this is a major misunderstanding between Trump and Putin. The former aspires to achieve a quick ceasefire and cessation of fighting, which he can then show to the world as a personal trophy, even at the cost of sacrificing essential strategic elements.
The second wants peace but with his own conditions, which he links to negotiations for a ceasefire: recognition of Russian territorial invasions of the last 3 years, and neutrality of the remaining part of Ukraine, limitation of Western security guarantees to Kiev, end of sanctions against Russia.
Moscow is in no hurry. Every week the pressure on Kiev and the West increases. For Putin, Kiev is a sacrificial "soldier" on the geopolitical chessboard. But it has become so for Trump as well. With the difference that the former dictates the demands, while the latter seems ready to fulfill them./ Pamphlet from "La Stampa"
Note: Ettore Sequi, former European Union ambassador to Albania.
Lini një Përgjigje