Friends or foes? A transatlantic rift

Abdul Sattar

Published Date: 26 February 2025

Published in: The News

The alacrity with which American President Donald Trump is trying to secure peace in war-ravaged Ukraine despite Europe’s reservations indicates that Washington is indifferent to the sensitivities of the continent. This indifference could further broaden the rift between these two close allies of the past that stood united for decades to defeat the mighty Soviet Union and ensure victory for the capitalist world and free market economy.

The recent meeting between President Trump and his French counterpart Emanuel Macron did not turn out to be very productive. It seems the two allies are sticking to their guns, unwilling to budge. The incumbent of the Oval Office seems to find Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire for peace to be altruistic but the Russiab president is viewed with great suspicion in Brussels. For European observers, Trump is gullible and incapable of comprehending the Machiavellian tricks the Russian leader has been employing to deceive the world.

Pro-Europe political commentators assert that Trump’s approach amounts to appeasing a totalitarian leader, who invaded a sovereign country and committed war crimes. They fear if the US turns a blind eye towards the hegemonic approach of Moscow, it would spell disaster not only for Ukraine but other states of the region, including some members of Nato. They point out that the international community ignored the irredentist attitude of Russia in the past that encouraged Putin to carry out his policy of threat and intimidation. They remind Americans that Uzbekistan was forced by Putin to ask the US in 2005 to shut down its military bases. In 2008, Moscow adopted an aggressive attitude towards Georgia, invading its territory. Both the US and Europe tried to ignore this aggression.

European commentators claim this appeasement turned out to be catastrophic in 2022 when the Russian leader ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. It was only after this invasion that European leaders realised belatedly that they should have done something earlier to prevent such a scenario from emerging. But it was too late because by that time the Russian leader had already got a strange sense of impunity.

Some European commentators urged Nato members to militarily counter the rising threat of Russia but it is believed the specter of a nuclear war prevented policymakers from provoking Russia. However, they continued their financial and to some extent military support to the invaded country. But such support, they assert, did not deter Russia from playing havoc with the lives of millions who were forced to flee the country and faced destruction. The lack of will to counter Moscow militarily encouraged Russia to threaten other states as well.

Critics of the American foreign policy towards Russia under Trump believe that the Republican leader is ready to sacrifice all principles and diplomatic norms to capture rare earth minerals of Ukraine, which are badly needed by the oligarchs surrounding the incumbent of the Oval Office. They assert that Trump is jeopardising the security of Nato members for the sake of petty interests of his donors who are least interested in understanding the complexities of a rule-based world that was jointly designed by Washington and its Western allies in the aftermath of World War II.

So, now it is clear that Trump’s position is diametrically opposite to that of Europe over Ukraine. For instance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is considered a legitimate leader of that country by Europeans but Trump has openly called him a dictator. Some in Europe go to the extent of equating Zelenskyy to the status of Winston Churchill, who stood firmly in the face of Russian aggression, uniting his people and foiling the attempts of Putin to subjugate Ukrainians. Similarly, while Trump blames Zelenskyy for the aggression, almost all leaders of the continental Europe believe that it was Russia that should be described as an aggressor and not the other way around.

For a very long time, the US and Europe adopted the same strategy over global issues at the UN forging unity in their ranks but now the US is also taking a different line on Ukraine at international forums. It recently opposed a UN General Assembly’s resolution condemning the aggression of Russia. This clearly indicates that the two allies stand apart on this crucial issue.

Trump’s move to restore peace in Ukraine is not the only bone of contention between Washington and Brussels. Many Europeans believe that Trump and his tedious acolytes are openly supporting far right forces in their region, which could spell disaster not only for European states but for its civilisation as well. Many in Europe firmly believe that one of the factors leading to the eruption of World War II was the rise of far-right forces in Germany, Italy and Spain. It was these fascist elements and their collaborators in UK, France and other countries that should be held responsible for the great slaughter of 20th century that decimated more than 70 million people within a span of six years

The rise of far-right forces did not only lead to the genocide of six million Jews in Germany but also caused irreparable damage to European civilisation that stood for universal brotherhood, equality of nations, mutual cooperation and respect for diversity. The ascendancy of ultranationalists plunged Europe into a swamp of racism that turned out to be very destructive not only for the region but the world as well.

Many European commentators believe that these far-right forces are again raising their heads, targeting immigrants and Muslims and resorting to anti-Semitism to achieve their political objectives. Critics assert that Europeans take this very seriously and the unity between different political parties in Germany and France is a concern for people who are not ready to countenance their ideology of hate and divisiveness.

But, despite all that, first Elon Musk heaped eulogies on these agents of hate in the UK whose lethal propaganda and lies served to unleash a reign of terror against Muslims and immigrants last year and later he extended his support to the ultranationalists in Germany. As if this were not enough, US Vice President JD Vance recently infuriated European leaders by carrying out a blistering speech against them besides preferring to meet the leader of the far-right party of Germany instead of talking to its current chancellor. Even after the elections, Musk predicted a possible victory of the far-right in the future. This came at a time when Germany is reeling under the effects of the support that the far-right AfD got during the Sunday elections.

So, what could be the possible consequences of this broadening rift between Europe and the US? Critics believe that the US is trying to isolate China by hobnobbing with Russia. During the decade of the 1970s, it held an olive branch to China to isolate Russia. Now it is going the other way around.

Washington’s proximity with Moscow will not go down well with Brussels, which might try to get closer to Beijing to counter Trump’s strategy. Critics believe that Europe and the US managed to maintain dominance of the world after 1945 by showing unity in their ranks but the broadening rift between the two indicates that not only will their interests be challenged but their dominance will also get affected.