The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has favorably reacted to the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who resists the proposal of a temporary pause of hostilities. It is a message “very promising, but not complete,” Trump responded to the allusion of the Russian to the “nuances” that condition an eventual high fire. “Hopefully Russia does the right thing,” added Trump, who has met in Washington with NATO general secretary Mark Rutte.
The American president has been willing to speak with the Russian to ensure that the truce in Ukraine is effective. Trump has insisted that if he is not willing to a fire in the fire “it will be a very disappointing moment for the world”, although he understands that it is not easy to close an agreement so fast. In this way, he has also advanced that he has already spoken with Ukraine about the cast of land once the peace is signed.
“We have been arguing with Ukraine about the lands and portions of territory that would be preserved and lost, as well as on all other elements of a final agreement. There is an energy plant involved, a very large energy plant. Who will stay with the energy plant and who will get this and that? So, you know, it is not an easy process, ”Trump has stated, which already has one of the first concessions to Russia: that kyiv will not be able to recover the borders prior to 2014.
The energy plant referred to by the tycoon would be the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant, which is in Russian occupied territory. It is one of the 10 largest nuclear centrals in the world. “If none of this had happened, I think they should not have given anything in return,” Trump said, Quen continues to draw the conflict as a war between hostile countries and not as a result of the Russian invasion.
For Moscow, one of the primary causes of aggression against Ukraine was the possibility of an expansion of NATO to the east. Last July, the allies promised to make kyiv’s adhesion “irreversible” to the Alliance. “We are going to discuss what happens between Ukraine and Russia,” Trump told Rutte in the Oval Office.
The US president has once again emphasizes that he wants to end war and that this means “a tremendous cost to the United States and also other countries.” More than talking to Routte, one could say that he spoke in deferred with the Russian. “We would like to see the fire by Russia,” he repeated.
Trump has once again influenced the idea that he is “on the other side of the ocean” to put the “unfair” relevance that it is, in his opinion, that the US has to assume a main role in the Ukrainian conflict. “We are on the other side of the ocean and they are right there … it is unfair,” he stressed. For his part, Rutte stressed that one of the reasons for the visit is just discussing “defense production.”
The American leader has defended, on the other hand, that the fear of a Russian invasion of some country of NATO allies is not “justified.” “When this is done [la paz]it’s over. Everyone will want to go home to rest […] It will not happen [la invasión]but we will guarantee that it does not happen, ”he insisted. Baltic and Poland countries are the most concerned about this extreme.
Trump believes that Greenland will be annexed
One of the issues Routte did not expect to find on the agenda of the day are Trump’s expansionist aspirations. The president has affirmed that he believes that the annexation of Greenland “will happen”, no matter how much the inhabitants of the island have mostly supported parties contrary to the proposal in the recent elections, because it is “vital” for the national security of their country. And Rutte could have an “instrumental” role in this purpose, he has launched. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, another member of the Alliance.
“I think that is why NATO could have to get involved in some way, because we really need more, and for national security it is very important. You know, we already have a couple of bases in Greenland, and we have a couple of soldiers there. And perhaps you will see more and more soldiers go there, ”said Trump, who has later addressed his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, medium in joke:“ What do you think, Pete? No, don’t answer that. ”
Trump has stated that the main reason to want to annex Greenland is to be able to “protect her”, now that the Arctic is configured as one of the new strategic regions in global trade. Climate change is promoting thaw and makes the waters much easier. “The routes are very direct to Asia, towards Russia, and there are ships everywhere. We need protection, so we will have to reach an agreement on that, ”said Trump, who has assured that Denmark“ is not able ”to provide the necessary protection in this context.
The interest in the new commercial routes in that area is such that Trump has announced that the United States will buy 48 ships to navigate the icy waters. “Russia, as you know, is about 40, and we only have a great break,” he said.
The meaning of NATO
Rutte arrived in Washington in low hours for relations between the United States and the rest of Atlantic partners. Trump’s approach to Russia in the negotiations on the Ukraine War has only removed the old criticisms of the American from the Atlantic Alliance. Even so, Trump has assured Rutte in the Oval Office: “NATO will be much stronger thanks to my actions.” Last Thursday the president raised from this same place not to go to the defense of the allies who do not reach the threshold of 2%.
The repeated Trump attacks against NATO have made it possible to consider the US USA. In this context, other countries such as France and the United Kingdom have already rushed to approach Trump directly to also close defense agreements. Both, together with Poland, Germany and other European partners, are forming independent blocks to NATO to continue militarily reinforcing Ukraine against Washington’s diminishing support.
Europe already understood at the Munich Security Conference that will increasingly depend on itself to defend itself with an eventual Russian attack. Trump’s latest movements to ride Ukraine and give up their negotiation conditions have only reaffirmed the feeling.
Trump’s attacks against NATO not only weaken it for the fear that the main partner cuts or declining it, but because the rest of the members are beginning to create alliances outside the umbrella of the military organism. The organization runs the risk of losing its central role as a reference for the defense for its partners, which would make the justification of its existence even more in question before some allies who do not comply with the minimums of contribution in defense and the US, which he considers to pay too much.
The NATO general secretary must be able to redirect the alliance to recover a central position on defense and for this he needs to win the favor of Trump. The relationship between the two has gone through ups and downs. As the Holland Prime Minister in 2016, Rutte congratulated Trump for his electoral victory, emphasizing solid ties between the Netherlands and the United States. However, during a meeting at the White House in 2018, Rutte publicly disagreed with the American.
During a photo shoot in the Oval Office, the president mentioned the discussions between the United States and the EU on trade agreements and tried to joke saying that, if the conversations failed, it could be something positive. Rutte quickly intervened with a firm “no” and a smile.
Although this is not the only front that Routte has to fall. Last Thursday, in the Oval Office, Trump questioned his willingness to defend those NATO allies who are not contributing enough in defense. “It’s common sense, right? He said to journalists, “if they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.” No, I’m not going to defend them. ”
The idea, beyond being a threat to spur to countries that do not reach the threshold, could truly be on the table. As published by the NBC chain last week, the president argued with his advisors exactly this possibility. If Trump really tries to carry out this change, he would mean a significant modification of a fundamental principle of the alliance encoded in its article 5, which establishes that an attack against any NATO country is an attack against all.
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