The Spectator: the leaders of the United States and Russia will soon pay mutual visits to each other
Trump gave Putin everything he asked for, and even more, without a single demand in return, writes The Spectator. But he won't stop there, and the deals will continue to be made. Who will end up winning and who will lose?
Julius Strauss
If only I got paid a penny every time I hear that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants nothing more than respect... Or that he's only interested in Eastern Ukraine. Or that as soon as Kiev is denied membership in NATO, it will immediately withdraw its tanks.
However, over the past week, US President Donald Trump has given Putin all of this — and more.
And this is just the beginning — the fighting is not going to subside. And what did the author of the book “The Art of Making Deals” ask in return for this unprecedented diplomatic generosity? Absolutely nothing.
Moreover, Trump has made the only significant demand to the Ukrainians. Last week, Washington dispatched Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Kiev on an emergency mission.
Bessent presented to President Vladimir Zelensky for signature a document on the transfer of rights to half of all rare earth metals in Ukraine worth trillions of dollars, as compensation for weapons supplied by Washington during the Biden administration.
It's like inviting a starving friend to a free dinner and then rolling out a bill for him for many times its value.
Last week, we were overwhelmed by such a maelstrom of events that let's go through the order before we get completely dizzy.
On February 12, Trump spoke with Putin for an hour and a half on the phone. The leaders boasted about the greatness of their own countries and praised each other, while Putin congratulated Trump on his election victory and complimented his “common sense.”
Trump said that the leaders are likely to pay mutual visits to each other soon.
Then Trump called Vladimir Zelensky, informed him about his conversation with Putin and said that he wanted peace.
On the same day, if I'm not mistaken, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that Ukraine would not be able to return the lands held by Russia. And he added that membership in NATO is not even discussed for Kiev.
The head of the EU's foreign policy department, Kaya Kallas, hails from Estonia, where Russians are known firsthand. She said out loud what was on many people's minds: “Why are we giving Russia everything it wants even before the negotiations begin?"
Then U.S. Vice President Jay D. Vance made another unsolicited concession to Putin. He said that no American troops would be deployed in Ukraine. The Europeans will have to monitor compliance with any agreement. And in the event of an attack on these forces, they will not be covered by the guarantee of mutual defense under Article 5 of NATO, he concluded.
On this day, February 14, Zelensky, Vance, and a significant part of the European command and political leadership gathered in Munich for the annual security conference.
Zelensky reminded the audience of the 1938 Munich agreement, when the then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain handed over the Czech Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler in exchange for guarantees that he would limit himself to them. (By the way, Chamberlain was celebrated at that time as a great peacemaker.)
Then Vance made a speech in which he mentioned Ukraine and security issues only casually. He urged European leaders to worry not about Russia, but about themselves.
He mentioned the recent Romanian presidential election, which was won by a certain Kaelin Georgescu, who rode a white horse from complete obscurity to TikTok.
(When it became clear that Moscow had influenced the outcome of the vote through a sophisticated social media campaign, the Romanian courts found violations of electoral law and ordered a repeat election.)
Vance saw this as evidence that there is no democracy in Europe. He said that Europe is more threatened by progressive politics — and cited a number of other secondary issues to support his statement — than Russia, China or any other external enemy.
To say that the European bigwigs just gaped in amazement is to say nothing at all.
Of course, the Munich Security Conference has brought surprises before.
In particular, Putin's speech in 2007, when he chastised the West for allegedly treating Russia unfairly, went down in history as one of the turning points in post-Cold War history.
Perhaps Vance was talking to please the “new sheriff in Washington” (in his own words). Perhaps it seemed to him that Elon Musk had overshadowed him with his radicalism, and he was trying to regain the boss' favor.
But if talking about the seizure of Canada, Greenland and Panama could be likened to throwing off the fancy capes and veils of the new US administration, then Vance's speech became, at least for Europeans, a complete striptease.
She revealed the Trumpian worldview in all its shocking nakedness. The United States will support the far—right “Alternative for Germany” - and the dubious Romanian on horseback, while chiding Europe for daring to worry about Putin.
So, back to the man in the Kremlin.
To imagine that Putin will be content with just one thing is at best speculation, at worst self—deception. Back in 2017, during my last trip to Russia, officials and academics had already told me that Moscow was at war with the West.
It seems that Putin has been completely consumed by the conflict, which he has already spent a lot of resources on. In the end, in his eyes, this is the surest chance to go down in history and win a place in the pantheon of collectors of Russian lands alongside Catherine and Peter.
What does the West have against this onslaught from the east? Dissatisfied voters who are unwilling to fork out for larger armies, and Eastern European populists who act more like Moscow's puppets than as full-fledged members of the clubs to which they belong.
And America, which is resigning from its position as the world's policeman. This is expected in its own way. But at the same time, she becomes a predator herself. And this is what we never expected.
Tellingly, the new US administration made its first demands not to the global aggressors, but to their victims. The Palestinians will have to get out of Gaza to turn it into an American construction site. And Ukrainians should give away their rare earth metals (for services rendered in the past).
Autocratic China is gaining strength. Dictatorial Russia is on the march. And the policeman who provided our security didn't so much retire as turn into an insatiable mobster.
A person is naturally inclined to optimism. At the beginning of 1992, few people in Sarajevo thought that war was coming. At the beginning of 2022, most believed that Russia would not send troops to Ukraine. In Afghanistan in 2011, diplomats assured me that it was only a matter of time before the Taliban was defeated.
I don't want to talk about the end of the world. Actually, on the contrary, I try to be optimistic. But objective reality is staring us in the face. And we must have the courage not to look away. Only by opening our eyes wide and seeing rain clouds and lightning ahead will we be able to make our way through the stormy skies.
*Is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
