The assumptions that drove US foreign policy for the past 80 years have changed. The moral superiority of democracies over dictatorships does not factor into President Donald Trump’s thinking.
Neither does preserving the US-led rules-based international order or promoting the concept of a collective West. To Trump, foreign policy is simple. At its core, there are countries that “take advantage” of America and countries that don’t.
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It pains me to say this as a Canadian, a European, and a lifelong Americanophile, but the America that underwrote peace and prosperity for the Free World can no longer be trusted because it no longer exists.
This new America is tough on all of her mortal enemies, an impressive list that includes menacing antagonists like Denmark, Panama, Mexico and obviously, the meanest of all, Canada. It seems that whatever kindness remains in America’s heart is reserved for countries it once “fought successfully” with – such as Russia.
Unlike her mortal enemies, Moscow does not take advantage of Washington. In fact, Russia might actually have something to offer America. For instance, Moscow can decouple itself from Beijing to help Washington in its strategic competition against China. In exchange, America might reward Russian aggression against Ukraine by rehabilitating Russia, legitimizing its annexation of Ukrainian land, and preventing Kyiv from joining NATO. It’s tragic that Washington went from supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to “as long as it can” to “I don’t care what happens” in record time.
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Moscow’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has many layers. To millions of Ukrainians who had their relatives killed, children kidnapped, and cities destroyed, it is the story of how the Russian dictator next door thinks their country shouldn’t exist. To lawyers and diplomats, it is the tale of Russia breaking every piece of paper it signed with Ukraine, from the 2003 Treaty on the Ukrainian-Russian State Border to the Minsk Agreements. To students of geopolitics, it is the latest chapter in the long saga of Washington throwing Kyiv under the Russian bus – from the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to the 2014 annexation of Crimea, to the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Trump is not negotiating an end to Moscow’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. If he was, he wouldn’t give into all of Russia’s demands before the negotiations begin. As US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made clear to his peers at the Ramstein conference this week, Ukraine will not join NATO, only non-American NATO peacekeepers can be deployed to Ukraine once the war ends, and NATO’s Article 5 will not apply if any of those soldiers are attacked by Russia during that peacekeeping mission.
If that doesn’t constitute capitulation, then I don’t know what does.
The West has viewed every iteration of the Russian Empire as a threat since the Napoleonic Wars. Though NATO, the most powerful military alliance in the history of the world, exists to deter and defend European civilization from Russia’s barbarism, only the brave soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have fought against Russian invaders – for 11 years.
While North Korea sends cannon fodder to help Moscow in its unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against peaceful Ukraine, NATO drags its feet on the fine line between broken promises and betrayal. The Ukrainian Armed Forces deserve better from America, Europe, and Canada. Shame on all of us.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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