Shockwaves from Trump's 'Thanksgiving Day' peace plan for Ukraine

Despite efforts to amend the terms, the damage done by the initial demands will linger and extend beyond trans-Atlantic security ties.

- Jonathan Eyal Global Affairs Correspondent

Europe's leaders have realised long ago that dealing with US President Donald Trump is not a science but a roller-coaster journey in which one day you feel euphoric, while the next day you sink into deep gloom.

Yet nothing prepared the Europeans for their latest confrontation with Washington over the future of Ukraine. It was a shocking episode in which, at one point, the Europeans stared into the abyss, facing the prospect of a total disintegration of their eight-decade-long security relationship with the US.

It all began a week ago, on Nov 18, when a supposedly new US "peace plan" to end the war in Ukraine leaked to the media. It was, to all intents and purposes, a call for Ukraine's surrender.

After almost four years of fighting for their independence against an unprovoked Russian invasion, the Ukrainians were told by Washington that, in return for an end to the war they must say goodbye to roughly a quarter of their territory, which will be handed over to Russia, accept that they would never join any military alliance, give up on any hope of being compensated for the war and respect limitations on the size of their armed forces, which would mean that they'd be largely defenceless against Russia for decades to come.

Neither Ukraine nor any of its European allies were consulted in drafting this plan. But if it were implemented, it would have resulted not only in the destruction of Ukraine; it would have also shattered US-European security relations and probably spell the end of the NATO military alliance.

A flurry of diplomatic manoeuvres and negotiations in Geneva between Ukrainian and top Trump administration officials led to the promise of a new deal which will take Ukraine's interests into account. But the crisis is far from over.

Ukraine continues to face a pivotal moment in its existence. And so does Europe, as well as any other country in the world that relies on US security guarantees.