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By forcing Ukraine to make concessions to the Russian aggressor, Europe will not receive security and cost savings, everything will be the other way around. This was stated by former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an author's article for the Financial Times.
He noted that Trump's victory in the US elections caused legitimate fears in Europe about the prospects of its own security. But, according to Stoltenberg, Europeans should rely more on themselves than on America in these matters. In particular, he recognized some of Trump's claims to NATO allies as fair.
“Europe has indeed allowed its forces to atrophy, and several countries have become dangerously dependent on Russian gas. Later, these oversights will cost the Europeans dearly," he said and added that Europe's defense spending should be at least 2% of GDP, not the current maximum.
Stoltenberg also believes that Trump's "skepticism" regarding the West's strategy in supporting Ukraine is justified.
"The US and Europe provided Ukraine with significant, but ultimately insufficient, military support — enough to survive, but not enough to end the war on favorable terms," writes the former Secretary General.
At the same time, he warns against simple decisions in ending the war in Ukraine.
"Give in to the aggressor would be the fastest way to end the war. But this will mean neither peace nor cost savings. This is the main paradox: the more weapons we supply, the more likely we will be able to achieve peace," Stoltenberg's article states.
In his opinion, in order to put an end to this war, Trump must demonstrate to Putin that the continuation of aggression is senseless, and the peace concluded must be "acceptable to Ukraine" and must not reward Russian aggression.
At the same time, the former NATO Secretary General urged Europe not to despair because of Trump's return, but instead to step up and prove that Europeans are "real partners, not freebies."
Prospects of ending the war in Ukraine
As I wrote, in recent days Donald Trump managed to talk by phone with many European leaders. According to Bloomberg sources, in at least one of these conversations, he made it clear that he would seek concessions from Russia, not just Ukraine, to end the war.
We also told that Putin wants to be the first to propose peace talks. But first he wants to knock out the ZSU from the Kursk region in order to negotiate from a position of strength.
