[[link removed]]

NOT SO FAST ON UKRAINE  
[[link removed]]


 

Robert Kuttner
February 24, 2025
The American Prospect
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Trump’s pitiful pivot to Putin has awakened two sleeping
giants—Republican opposition and European unity. _

European leaders, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy,
second from left, attend a press conference after the “Support
Ukraine” summit, marking the third anniversary of the Russian
invasion, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 24, 2025., Gleb Garanich/Pool
Photo via AP

 

The consequences of Trump’s ignorant overreaches are beginning to be
felt, and nowhere more than in his pathetic poodling to Putin. Trump
may finally get his goal of Europe spending more on defense—but in
defense against him.

As a supporter of anti-foreign nationalists everywhere, the
nationalism that Trump is fomenting is anti-American, at least as long
as America is personified by himself. Trump has even kindled
nationalism on the part of the docile Canadians.

Yesterday, Friedrich Merz’s mainstream Christian Democrats (CDU) won
the German election. To widespread relief, the CDU and the Social
Democrats (SPD) will together have enough seats in parliament (328 out
of 630) to form a stable two-party coalition, of the sort that has
governed Germany for almost half of the postwar era. The biggest
surprise of the evening was that Germany’s left party, Die Linke,
surged to almost 9 percent of the vote and will have 64 seats.

The CDU and the SPD don’t agree on much, but they agree on
containing Putin—and containing Trump. Geopolitically, Europe has
every reason to unite against a Putin-Trump entente. Putin has designs
not just on Ukraine, but on most of the former Soviet empire,
beginning with the Baltics.

In the upending of the traditional postwar balance of power politics,
Europe may well end up providing much of the military support that
Ukraine needs to defend itself. Economically, Trump’s insane threat
of a trade war against the EU is also backfiring. At a time when the
EU has been fragmented and demoralized, Trump is an unintended tonic
for European unity and solidarity.

Today, on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine, European foreign ministers approved a fresh package of
sanctions
[[link removed]] on
Russia, targeting energy, trade, transport, infrastructure, and
financial services.

“It should be a priority to strengthen Europe as fast as possible so
that we gradually achieve independence from the U.S.,” Merz said
[[link removed]] after
declaring victory Sunday. “It’s clear that the Americans, at least
this American administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of
Europe.”

TRUMP IS ALREADY HAVING TO BACKPEDAL from the idea of a quick deal
with Putin that sells out Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian
independence. The Republicans are traditionally the Cold War party.
Seven Republican senators have publicly broken with Trump on Ukraine,
and others have declined to support him.

The vocal dissenters include Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who
has spoken of Russian “aggression” in Ukraine, John Curtis of
Utah, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as well
as John Kennedy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas. In a speech
directed unmistakably at Trump, Thom Tillis of North Carolina took
the Senate floor
[[link removed]] to
declare: “Whoever believes that there is any space for Vladimir
Putin and the future of a stable globe, better go to Ukraine, they
better go to Europe, they better invest the time to understand that
this man is a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy in my
lifetime.”

Well, maybe the second-greatest threat.

Trump’s own secretary of state, former Republican Sen. Marco Rubio,
was one the most anti-Putin senators, and he is no fan of the deal
that Trump is pushing. In the past, Rubio has referred to Putin
[[link removed]] as
“bloodthirsty,” “a butcher,” “a monster,” “a war
criminal,” and warned that he could not be trusted.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Rubio pressed the Biden
administration to support the Ukrainians “as long as they are
willing to fight.” He even expressed the hope that Putin might be
overthrown or assassinated. “I think the whole world wishes that,”
he said.

In the Republican pushback, there is an important spillover effect.
The more that Republican legislators step forward and oppose Trump on
Ukraine, the more it gives other Republicans permission to oppose him
on other unpopular Trump schemes.

The entire strategy of intimidating Republicans into submission begins
to crumble. He can’t primary all of them. Dictatorship works only
when everyone follows the dictates.

Trump has already had to jettison other screwball ideas. As my
colleague David Dayen writes
[[link removed]], he
quickly walked back the half-baked scheme to make the Postal Service
part of the Commerce Department. He meekly retracted his grand scheme
for taking over Gaza, after universal global pushback, telling an
interviewer on Fox News
[[link removed]],
“I think that’s the plan that really works. But I’m not forcing
it. I’m just going to sit back and recommend it.” And we haven’t
heard much about Greenland lately.

On Ukraine, after all the pro-Putin puffery we may well end up with
some variant of the broad settlement deal that has been on the table
all along. Ukraine gives up the roughly 20 percent of its territory
that Russia controls militarily, much of it Russian-speaking. In
exchange, Ukraine gets security guarantees—but led by an emboldened
Europe, not by an enfeebled United States.

A Putin alliance with the U.S. as junior partner was never going to
fly. Trump’s echoing of Putin’s taking points signals pathetic
weakness. The two major pieces of collateral damage for Trump are
Republican senators and Western allies willing to stand up to him.

_ROBERT KUTTNER is co-founder and co-editor of The American
Prospect, and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School. His
latest book is Going Big: FDR’s Legacy, Biden’s New Deal, and the
Struggle to Save Democracy
[[link removed]].  _

_Follow Bob at his site, robertkuttner.com
[[link removed]], and on Twitter._

THE AMERICAN PROSPECT is devoted to promoting informed discussion on
public policy from a progressive perspective. In print and online,
the Prospect brings a narrative, journalistic approach to complex
issues, addressing the policy alternatives and the politics necessary
to create good legislation. We help to dispel myths, challenge
conventional wisdom, and expand the dialogue.

Founded by Robert Kuttner, Paul Starr, and Robert Reich, read the
original 1989 prospectus for the magazine.
[[link removed]]

To learn more about our history, check out this 2015 piece by Starr
and Kuttner
[[link removed]],
reflecting on 25 years of politics and change.

American Prospect, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation
headquartered in Washington, D.C.

You can support our mission with a subscription or a tax-deductible
donation.

DONATE TODAY [[link removed]]

* foreign policy
[[link removed]]
* Europe
[[link removed]]
* Germany
[[link removed]]
* Russia
[[link removed]]
* Ukraine
[[link removed]]
* Vladimir Putin
[[link removed]]
* Volodymyr Zelensky
[[link removed]]
* marco rubio
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]
* republicans
[[link removed]]
* Congress
[[link removed]]
* Politics
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]