LOS ANGELES (OC).–Russian President Vladimir Putin said any supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine would hurt U.S.-Russian relations, something President Donald Trump has worked hard to improve since taking office. Putin has opted to keep the war going because there’s no peace plan offered by Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Voldymyr Zelensky or the EU that makes sense. EU officials led by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friendrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer reject Putin’s peace plan that involves trading land-or-peace. Trump worked for months on a peace plan based on trading land-for-peace, something now rejected by Zelensky and the EU. EU officials now see the Ukraine War as a security threat for the European Union, thinking that if Ukraine loses the war, cedes territory to Russia, then Putin would move on Europe.
Putin said at a security conference in the Black Sea port of Sochi that the U.S. sending Tomahawk Cruise missiles to Ukraine would be a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and United States.” Putin faults Trump for selling weapons to NATO, when Putin could have opted for a 30-day ceasefire where Trump would help Putin end the war with dignity for Russia. Meeting with Trump Aug. 15 in Anchorage, Alaska, Putin decided to work toward a permanent peace rather than pause the war for 30 days. When it comes to U.S.-Russian relations, Putin knows that Trump did everything possible to end the war but, ultimately, was sabotaged by Zelensky and the EU. Putin told the EU to contain its hysteria that Russia represented the threat to the EU. Putin sees the war in Ukraine as one between the Kremlin and NATO.
Trump didn’t join the EU in hitting Moscow with new economic sanctions, designed as Macron says to deal with Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers delivering crude oil to China, India and other countries. Macron would like to interfere with Russia’s ability to fund its war machine in Ukraine. But Russia has been in the business of supplying crude oil and natural gas to Europe and other countries around the globe and knows how to deliver the goods. Any attempt by the EU to intercept Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers would be met with swift retaliation, rattling world oil markets. Whether Macron admits it or not, interfering with the Russian oil market would drive crude oil prices through the roof, costing Europeans massive increases in pump prices. Dealing with the Ukraine War has presented a real dilemma for the European Union.
Putin sees the war as one between NATO and Russia, not primarily with Ukraine at this point. “We are fighting against the entire block of NATO and we keep moving, keep advancing and feel confident, and we are a paper tiger—what NATO itself is? A paper tiger?” Putin asked. “Go and deal with this paper tiger then,” Putin said, referring to a comment from Trump calling Russia a paper tiger. Trump gains nothing from insulting Putin only fuels more resistance on Putin’s part to make a deal. Zelensky and EU officials need to get real about what it would take to strike a peace deal. Putin won’t settle the conflict unless he receives at least some of the territory he’s seized over the last three-and-a-half years. Zelensky and the EU can’t have it both ways: Losing the war and Ukraine’s sovereign territory, then expecting Putin to give all the territory back.
Putin warned the EU about seizing Russia’s “shadow fleet” of freighters carrying crude oil to Putin’s patrons in China, India and elsewhere. EU officials need to think carefully about seizing frozen Russian assets currently held in Belgium. Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever warned against any action by the EU to confiscate Russia’s frozen assets. “We’re going to move to uncharted waters. This is very, very risky,” De Wever said. De Wever wants a commitment from all EU countries that they would share the burden to taking such a bold step to confiscate Russia’s frozen assets to fund the Ukraine War. Macron wants to seize the Russian assets to prevent the EU from having to foot the bill for the Ukraine government and war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that all European countries must share the burden.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
