Solutions

“Today, President Donald J. Trump brought Presidents Putin and Zelensky together to sign the peace accord that Trump negotiated with both leaders, a momentous achievement given the length and nature of the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. President Zelensky looked downhearted as he signed the agreement that leaves all of the Ukrainian territory presently occupied by Russian armed forces in Putin’s hands and forces Zelensky to order the withdrawal of his forces in the Kursk area. Furthermore, all of the thousands of Ukrainain children who have been abducted and taken to Russia will remain there. Russia will not pay any reparations for the reconstruction of Ukrainian towns, cities and infrastructure.”

Further conditions of the deal mean that Ukraine will never join NATO and that President Zelensky will have to step down. He was quoted as saying: “After three years of struggle and deprivation and in spite of the devastation caused in my country and the thousands of my countryfolk killed and wounded, we have no choice but to accede to Putin’s demands. The withdrawal of support from the USA and its threat to withdraw from NATO has meant that the member states of that organisation have been forced to end their support as well. As a nation, we have endured so much…”

This won’t happen, will it? Surely, after supporting the Ukraine for so long, the USA will not desert its ally? Well, this is the only way that Trump will achieve his “peace deal in 24 hours that he has claimed he will bring about.

In 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich waving a piece of paper that he announced would mean “peace in our time”. He has gone down in history as a gullible buffoon, who essentially gave the green light to Hitler to annex the Sudetenland and, subsequently, launch the invasion of Poland. Can we compare Putin with Hitler? Both systematically eroded any sense of democracy and free speech in their countries. Both eliminated political opponents. Indeed, gravity must be a lot stronger in Russia than in other countries as it literally sucks Putin’s opponents out of hotel and hospital windows on a regular basis.

Surely Trump cannot be dumb enough to think that Putin will stop there? Trump said that Russia could “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t pay up in full. Sure, other border countries are members of NATO, so invading them would bring the UK, Germany, France et al into the conflict, but if Trump is serious in his lack of commitment to NATO or even to leave it, what resolve would the other countries have to, essentially, trigger World War 3? “Latvia, Lithuania? Who cares! I don’t even know where they are.” This is what you will hear.

Trump also said: “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán.” Hungary’s leader has constantly sided with Putin and has been sanctioned by the EU for his attacks on press freedom, judicial independence and the LGBTQ+ community. He has show skant regard for the rule of law and democratic values; small wonder that Trump likes him.

Before a lot of American start shouting “Why should we carry on paying for the war?” or “Why should our boys die in Europe to defend some Europeans?” maybe they should consider this simple fact. The Americans did not win the War of Independence against Great Britain alone. They had help. A hereditary monarchy helped a fledgling republic win the struggle to free it from the clutches of another hereditary monarchy. For 4 years, France provided much-needed supplies, arms and ammunition and, crucially, naval support. The French navy blockaded ports, preventing British ships from supplying their forces with equally much-needed supplies. Ironically, the French monarchy was overthrown around 15 years later, in a revolution inspired by the American one.

Now, what if France had decided that supporting the war was too expensive and had withdrawn that support after a couple of years? The phrase “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” came from the Simpsons and caught on in the US. T-shirts had the slogan “Iraq first, France next!” and the phrase “freedom fries” appeared after France’s opposition to the ill-fated invasion of Iraq, so can you imagine what Americans would feel about the French if they had done a runner in 1780?

If Trump does pull the rug out from under the feet of the Ukrainians, the USA will lose any credibility that it still has in the world. ‘Make American great again’? You’ve gotta be kidding.