A familiar and disheartening pattern is emerging in European capitals following the presentation of a 28-point peace plan by the Trump administration. Just as after Donald Trump’s summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska this past August, European leaders are offering public lip service to Trump’s efforts to end the war while maneuvering to sabotage any initiative that deviates from their maximalist — and unattainable — goals of complete Russian capitulation in Ukraine.
Their goal appears not to be to negotiate a better peace, but to hollow out the American proposal until it becomes unacceptable to Moscow. That would ensure a return to the default setting of a protracted, endless war — even though that is precisely a dynamic that, with current battleground realities, favors Russia and further bleeds Ukraine.
The European reaction to Trump’s proposal has been swift and revealing. According to Bloomberg, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron, the leaders of Britain, Germany and France respectively, have hastily joined Zelensky in rejecting key elements of the Trump plan. Berlin has emerged as the chief hawk among the Euro Trio and reportedly is developing a counter-proposal far more attuned to Ukraine’s position.
Meanwhile, the EU high representative on foreign affairs Kaja Kallas outlined the bloc’s grand strategy for achieving peace with devastating simplicity: first, weaken Russia; second, support Ukraine. That’s it. One would search completely in vain for a diplomatic off-ramp, a vision for a future European security architecture, or even a basic acknowledgment of the compromises necessary to stop the killing in this “peace plan.” For it is no such thing: it is pure virtue signaling that translates into a perpetual conflict on the ground, with further destruction of Ukraine and growing risks of escalation and expansion of the war in Europe.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member