OPINION
Donald Trump is leading on the world stage (Image: Getty)
French president was in Washington the other day to meet US president . We’d had some advance notice of Macron’s visit, and we also had a heads up that Monsieur le President was intent on offering some words of wisdom to the Donald on matters too. How did that work out?
As we all know, Trumpian tolerance levels when it comes to criticism are not high. And judging by the body language on display in the Oval Office on Monday, it was clear the Donald was peeved, and it was clear that Macron was the one who had irritated him.
To further contribute to the US president’s ire, it has also emerged that the European Commission (not to be outdone, of course) have tabled a peace plan of their own. The EU response is perhaps hardly surprising since Trump pointedly excluded the Europeans from his initial pow-wow with Mad Vlad to begin with. The EU took it very badly and their knee-jerk reaction was their predictable punt of a European defence force.
I’m not quite sure how an effective duplicate is supposed to coexist alongside ? Maybe that’s not their intention for it to do so; maybe the EU see a defence grouping minus the US as the preferred option, although in practice it remains to be see how this can be achieved on a practical level. Without American troop numbers AND funding the EU seem intent on banging an empty barrel, making a whole lot of noise but not much else!
There seems little doubt that the Europeans were caught off-guard when Trump and Putin began talking about a possible resolution of the problem.
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They have poured billions in direct aid to , billions more in arms, and given Zelensky more exposure than a newborn. The result is that the war has now entered its fourth year, more death and destruction, and more faux wailing and gnashing of teeth.
It’s all very well championing a noble cause and rightly standing shoulder to shoulder in maintaining any sovereign nation’s territorial integrity, but the Russians simply don’t care.
Mad Vlad has both Comrade Xi and the backing him, and if anyone thinks there is one shred of ideological component on the part of this autocratic threesome then you’re either blind or plain stupid.
The invasion by is all about power, it’s about greed and ambition. And this largely includes the EU, the member state arms manufacturers are doing a roaring trade along with their British counterparts after all. The same holds true of the last US administration, yet the present administration, whilst also maintaining strong support, are insisting upon something now to show for it.
It was only AFTER started to ramp up the drive for a speedy end to hostilities that Europe suddenly sensed the change in the wind direction. Dismiss Trump as a mad hatter all you want, and indeed many do, but he does have a remarkable ability to deliver on what he says he will do, along with an uncanny shrewdness few dare acknowledge.
How, for example, do you engage on a constructive approach to ending the appalling carnage on the Ukrainian battlefields without including some dialogue with Mad Vlad? As abhorrent and ghastly a prospect as this might be it is unavoidable, unless of course you think you have a big enough stick to beat him with, which of course you don’t.
Besides we are so badly compromised financially to , as is continental Europe, that Vlad simply thumbs his nose at us along with his mate Xi. And what do we plan to do about that? Answer: Not much.
We’ll see how Trump makes out, but he has taken a bold step in the right direction while everyone else is sitting on their hands. Europe has had three years in which to have done something meaningful, so has the US until recently, so too has the UK. It takes much more effort than simple tokenism of sanctions, both economic and political, to sway a lunatic like Vlad.
His country may be in tatters, his in the toilet, his domestic position under threat, but he’s still selling his oil and gas and more importantly he’s still afloat.
Is fooled by Putin? Believe that all you want, but I don’t think he’s that stupid. And isn’t there now a mad dash to try and get in on the act too after Trump showed the way?
Wait and see, Possums. Wait and see!