Trump, Rubio and Hegseth are fumbling Ukraine, Europe needs to stop making the same mistake
For now, Ukrainians are Europe’s human shields. If their defence breaks, a triumphant, battle-hardened Russia will seek its next victim, while the US may decide to back a winner not a loser. For now, Europe’s problem is only a lack of will-power: a nice problem to have.
It is hard for European allies to know which is worse, hearing their sacrifice in the US-led war in Afghanistan mocked by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, seeing his State Department counterpart Marco Rubio dissembling about the interruption to Starlink service in Ukraine, or watching the commander-in-chief of the free world blithely end sanctions on Russia.
One option is to sit tight and hope that next month’s mid-terms will bring deliverance.
It is possible, perhaps, that a huge political defeat for Donald Trump will change American foreign policy, though those who sincerely hanker for the eras of Joe Biden and Barack Obama may need to adjust their rose-tinted filters.
More likely is that constitutional tussles will make the US even more distracted and unpredictable. Who really believes that a midnight phone call alerting the president to a surprise Russian incursion into Nato territory will gain a firmer response if the Democrats control Congress?
Edward Lucas is a former senior editor at The Economist, founder and director of the Baltic International Security Centre think-tank, and a regular writer on defence, security and espionage for The Times and Foreign Policy. He is the author of The New Cold War (2008) and Deception (2011).
