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European leaders’ united front joins Zelenskyy at the White House

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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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The meeting saw Trump being more civilised to the Ukrainian leader after European officials joined to discuss the current war, following a similar meeting with Putin.

Nobody has been more obsessed with a Nobel Peace Prize than President Donald Trump has. The White House claimed that he had brokered at least one peace deal or ceasefire a month since his term began, warranting the prestigious award. Alleged deals aside, Trump himself is currently struggling with brokering an agreement for one major conflict: the Russia-Ukraine war.

Recently, he was joined by President Putin in Alaska to discuss the potential terms of a peace deal with Ukraine. However, despite having a three-hour negotiation, neither came to an agreement, and they even chose not to answer questions in the press conference about what was discussed. As both remained tight lipped, European leaders were unhappy with being excluded.

Hence, days later, the White House welcomed Zelenskyy and a coalition of European leaders for a similar summit. Representing Europe were the heads of France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Finland, NATO, and the EU. Thankfully, this time around, Trump’s interaction with Zelenskyy was not as scathing as it was earlier this year, due to the presence of the other leaders.

Trump has always made Ukraine’s terms of a potential peace deal clear. These distorted conditions include the latter relinquishing terms over Crimea, which Russia annexed years back. Additionally, Ukraine is to give up its aspirations to join NATO, while also swapping territories with Russia.

Yet, these were not discussed during the summit. In fact, European leaders pushed back against the US leader after he suggested that a ceasefire was unnecessary. Trump also left the meeting to have a mysterious 40-minute-long call with Putin – details unknown. Other than these questionable moments, all officials present stated that Trump was ‘warm’ for most of the discussion.

Though there was no concrete plan towards a peace deal, Trump guaranteed US security support, after Europe, as Ukraine’s first line of defence. Moreover, Trump mentioned that he was working towards a tripartisan meeting between Putin, Zelenskyy, and himself. However, President Emmanuel Macron stepped forward to emphasise the importance of a European leader at such a meeting.

Europe’s involvement in this conflict has been widely questioned, but in reality, their demand to be included in ceasefire negotiations is entirely justified.

To quote Macron, Russia’s aggression isn’t just affecting Ukraine but also involves the ‘security of the European continent’. If Russia takes full control of Ukraine, who’s to say that it wouldn’t try similar tactics with the rest of Europe?

Europe’s worry, following Trump’s meeting with Putin, was that Ukraine would be forced into conceding territories without repost from EU nations. Some big names in European politics deemed this a major risk to their borders’ security and potential for future setbacks.

It’s their prerogative to have a say in ceasefire or peace deals between both nations, to ensure that the terms agreed upon do not put Europe at a disadvantage. With Trump’s increasingly erratic stance towards Russia, Western strategy against Putin’s aggression has been constantly interrupted.

The Russian President himself said that relations between both nations are currently at their ‘lowest point since the Cold War’. If Trump will decide to mend his relationship with Putin, or ally with Europe, remains unclear.

If the first former was chosen, Europe’s security would be fundamentally destabilised due to Russia’s newfound influence over EU borders. In this scenario, Sh*t would hit the fan, leading to increased militarisation, nuclear tensions, and a whole new geopolitical reality.

Thankfully, Europe’s united front underscores that appeasing Russia isn’t the name of the game and declares that the union will play a sizable role in negotiations with Ukraine.

 

Remote Writer Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hey, I’m Anyaa, a Behavioral Economist in the making who is currently doing a degree in Psychology. By nature, I’m a journalist who hopes to instigate conversations by sharing the stories and truths that make the world more comprehensible.

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