The Art of the Deal, indeed. Donald Trump’s self-image as a great negotiator is taking a beating. He came as close as possible on Friday to admitting that his attempt to bully Volodymyr Zelensky into surrendering was encouraging Vladimir Putin to kill more Ukrainians.
After Russian drones rained down on Odesa, President Trump said he was considering further sanctions against Russia. It seemed, briefly, that he was taking an even-handed approach, and trying to put pressure on both sides to come to the negotiating table.
A short time later on Friday, however, he was asked if he thought Putin was taking advantage of the US decision to pause support for Ukraine. “I think he’s doing what anybody else would do,” Mr Trump said. “He’s hitting him harder than he’s been hitting him. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.”
He continued to blame the Ukrainians, saying, “I don’t know that they want to settle. If they don’t want to settle, we’re out of there.”
President Zelensky has made it abundantly clear that he wants the war to end, and that Ukraine is prepared to compromise its territorial integrity for the sake of peace. What he is not prepared to do is surrender.
Yet it seems that this is precisely what Mr Trump is trying to force him to do. He insists that Putin is prepared to do a deal, when the evidence suggests that, if Putin senses weakness, he will simply step up his military effort.
As Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, said: “This is what happens when someone appeases barbarians. More bombs, more aggression, more victims. Another tragic night in Ukraine.”
We should be grateful that Mr Tusk and other European leaders are prepared to make a stand and not just speak up for the right of the Ukrainian people to decide their own future, but to provide them with meaningful additional support.
Sir Keir Starmer has done his bit, trying to act as a bridge – although it is a bridge that keeps being blown up at the American end. But Sir Keir, with the support of parliament and the British people, stands with the most resolute of our European allies in defence of Ukraine. Germany, France and the Baltic states are prepared to do more for Ukraine, but they need all the nations of the continent to join them.
In crude terms, Mr Trump and European leaders are divided in how to end this war. The US president may seem to be inconsistent, but his essential aim is as unmistakable as it is cynical: he believes that US withdrawal will cause the Ukrainians to start losing the war and force them to agree to terms. He does not care how many Ukrainians die or how abject those terms are, just as long as the fighting stops.
The European view was well expressed by Sir Ben Wallace, the former UK defence secretary, on Saturday – although possibly in blunter terms than most national leaders would deploy. “Putin is not going to stop and President Trump is naive to think so,” he told the BBC. Sir Ben went on: “We aren’t going to let Putin win. The Americans can do what they want, but what Trump may discover … is that the Ukrainians are tough people.”
To the charge that the European approach would mean a war without end, Sir Ben said that if Ukraine carries on its resistance for another 18 months, “the Russian economy will collapse”. At some point before that, Putin would be wise to settle, in a deal in which the balance of forces would still be approximately equal.
Any skilled negotiator knows that the art of a deal is to allow both sides to feel that they are gaining something from it. Mr Trump is not a skilled negotiator. It is up to Sir Keir and other European leaders to take up their responsibilities and show him how it is done.
The urgency of strong leadership enacted immediately by Europe is now paramount. The Independent has been adamant that what Mr Trump has done is wrong. He has appeased and supported an invader. He has chosen dictatorship over democracy and despotic tactics over decency.
This is the time for our prime minister to show he has the mettle to lead and inspire. So far, he has done much right.
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