The leaders of Ukraine’s European allies certainly seemed to enjoy their big day out at the White House. Having excitedly undertaken the trip to Washington, DC, following President Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday, they got to spend a few hours on Monday acting like world statesmen in the East Room. And they did so in front of The Donald himself.
It was quite a performance on the part of British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and a few others. In between offering praise and thanks to Trump for his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, they talked of the importance of maintaining European security, and of the necessity, in Starmer’s words, of achieving a ‘lasting peace’.
All fine sentiments, no doubt. But if the purpose of this borderline weird spectacle was to demonstrate Europe’s strength, to publicly affirm Britain, France and Germany’s willingness to stand by Ukraine in the face of unceasing Russian aggression, it did not succeed.
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