The growing schism between US and Europe
By Ahmed Nofel Siddiqui
OPINION
March 12, 2025
WITH each passing day, it’s becoming clearer that rift between Europe and the US is widening, as changes made in foreign policy by President Donald Trump are beginning to yield both intended and unintended consequences.
The latest of the foreign policy shifts has been Washington’s change of stance on Ukraine. While the Biden administration was sympathetic towards the Ukrainian cause, Trump has proven time and time again that he will not follow in his predecessor’s footsteps.
Before his inauguration Trump had publicly announced that he would end the war; however, to the horror of many around the globe the peace terms brought forth by the American president favour Russia, not Ukraine. This is a distressing fact particularly as one recalls that Russia has always been the aggressor against Ukraine, and the West has always been soft on Moscow, which factor has allowed the latter to constantly violate international law.
Following the Russian invasion of Crimea, a number of agreements aimed at ensuring that no other war takes place were signed in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. However, as the world saw on Feb 24, 2022, the agreements failed to save Ukraine from Russia which again violated Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and invaded eastern parts of the country, which resulted in the killings of thousands and displacement of even more people.
With the West arming his country because it was facing the brunt of the Russian military might, Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky had then become a symbol of hope and resistance across the globe as he stared down the much larger enemy, that too without any hint of fear. But as the recent press conference at the White House showed, the once celebrated and revered war hero has been reduced to nothing in the eyes of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. The two leaders yelled at Zelensky, berated him for not wearing a suit, and blamed him for starting the war when in fact Russia was the aggressor.
Having said that, it has been refreshing to see “resistance” being offered to Trump by British Prime Minister Kier Starmer as well as French President Emmanuel Macron; the two seem to be the only leaders in the West who realise what surrendering Ukraine would really mean. Similarly it is unfortunate but also unsurprising that the next German Chancellor Friedriech Merz has said his “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the US”.
This shows that Europe feels threatened by Russia, even more so as the US exits the Ukraine crisis. However, Trump pays no heed to what his longtime allies, the German, French, and the British have to say.
What’s most distressing is that once the controversial — no notorious — press conference at the White House ended, Vice President Vance went on a skiing trip, and Trump went off to a game of golf, but Zelensky returned to a warzone where hundreds of his countrymen are killed each day while fighting for their nation. This is the kind of world we live in.