Trump Focuses On Peace, Europe On The Pieces

Though Europe has inserted itself into the Ukraine peace process and may raise a force to ensure it, Trump is clear he and Putin are the main deciders

- M K BHADRAKUMAR

Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at King's College London, has an acerbic description of the statecraft of US President Donald Trump: "Never assume you know what Donald Trump is going to do or say next because it is unlikely he does. Take seriously what he says at any time because that probably accurately reflects what he is thinking, but some of his thoughts can be very transitory and are soon replaced by others. If you don't like the positions being held on one day, push back because he might be convinced to hold a different position the next. Equally, when satisfied with today's position, do not assume it will last."

Unsurprisingly, the representatives of Europe's ruling elite who headed to the White House to meet with Trump on Monday counted that there was scope to push back the consensus reached at the Alaska meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on August 15 to the effect that achieving "a comprehensive, just, and sustainable resolution to the conflict surrounding Ukraine—including the eradication of its root causes" should be the priority, rather than an immediate ceasefire to end the war.

The European allies are alarmed that Trump dropped the idea of imposing crippling sanctions on Russia. But they feel excited that on the contentious issue of security guarantee for Ukraine, Trump extracted a "horosho" (okay) from Putin, which could open a pathway for inserting themselves into the Ukraine settlement process. The play here is to lock Trump into Europe and an anti-Russian Ukraine. Trump seemed to acquiesce when he told Fox News that American forces could assist Ukraine's allies in deterring future Russian attacks.