By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-10 12:37:57 | Updated at 2025-03-10 15:00:09
2 hours ago
With the Ukraine war now in its fourth year, US President Donald Trump has taken a decidedly different approach. After the explosive words between Trump, US Vice-President J.D. Vance and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Washington has paused military aid to Ukraine. Trump has also said he did not see a full recovery of lost territory by Ukraine as feasible.
To his supporters, Trump is an unconventional peacemaker, pulling the rug out from under the transatlantic Nato alliance and confronting Kyiv. To critics, however, his administration’s Ukraine policy reflects a dangerous degree of capricious, self-serving unilateralism.
Yet perhaps both sides would agree that, for far too long, Europe has been overly dependent on American military guarantees. While China hawks in Europe have eagerly championed “de-risking” through a reduced dependence on Chinese manufacturers and investment, far fewer have acknowledged the need to do the same with the power across the Atlantic.
Beyond the remit of a blatantly self-serving minerals deal and nominal cessation of fighting, Trump does not seem particularly interested in a long-lasting security infrastructure upholding Ukrainian interests. China and India, meanwhile, have opted for strategic neutrality by avoiding taking sides between key partners in Europe and Russia alike.
Kyiv must – and has – looked elsewhere for help: the European Union and Britain.
Former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani says the EU must “do the unthinkable”: declare a willingness to quit Nato, work out a bargain with Russia and shore up relations with China.
