LOS ANGELES (OC).–Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered President Donald Trump’s message to the Munich Security Conference saying that the old world order is gone in a new age of global threats primarily from Russia and China. Rubio’s remarks were less stark than last year’s message from Vice President J.D. Vance asking Europe to play a bigger role in their own defense rather than relying heavily on NATO. Rubio said that the U.S. was committed to NATO but wanted the alliance to contribute more of their GDP to defense, asking member states to go from 3% to 5% of GDP in the coming year. Unlike Vance that shared American superiority over Europe, Rubio said the America;s values were a “child” of Europe with the continents “intertwined” in shared interests. Trump has been disappointed with the European Union’s response to the Ukraine War.
Trump has been working feverishly since taking office on ending the Ukraine War only to find the EU taking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s position that the Ukraine War defends European democrac. Certain EU countries, like Poland and the Baltic States, fear a Russian invasion of more European territory, something Zelensky has been warning about for years. Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference last year that Trump wasn’t concerned about European security, urging EU countries to take up the Ukraine cause, one of battling the Kremlin indefinitely. While Trump works on a pragmatic peace plan, Zelensky and the EU make peace impossible by refusing to compromise on some minor land concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron saiys ceding land to Russia would invite Putin to seize more EU land.
EU leaders like Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Ministr Keir Starmer blame Trump for seeking normal diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. Under former President Joe Biden, U.S.-Russian relations deteriorated to lower levels than the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Biden joined Zelensky’s fight with the Kremlin, funding proxy war with the Russian Federation. Trump has made every effort since taking office to restore U.S.-Russian relations. So, when Zelensky demands that the U.S. provide post-war security guarantees to Ukraine, he’s asking the U.S. to go to war with Russia if something happens to an unstable peace. Trump doesn’t want to guarantee Zelensky’s peace when he must learn how to get along with the Kremlin one the war ends. Zelensky accuses Trump of abandoning EU security because he doesn’t financially support the Ukraine War.
Trump came to office telling Zelensky to cut his losses, end the war and start rebuilding his country. Zelensky rejected Trump’s offer, instead working with the EU to undermine Trump’s peace plan Zelensky says favors Russia. Zelensky knows that Trump’s peace plan only favors ending the war, not leaning toward one side or another. Zelensky refuses to cede eastern Donbas to Russia, thinking it encourages Putin to take more European territory. Putin has made clear he wants no fight with NATO but wants Zelensky to recognize over the last four years of war he’s lost some 25% of Ukrainian territory to Moscow. When it comes to the Peoples Repbublics of Donetsk and Luhansk, Putin refuses to abandon Russian-speaking enclaves. Putin actually offered to end the war in March 2022 only two weeks after the war started if Zelensky would recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Four years into the war, Zelensky has lost nearly 25% of his best sovereign territory is a war that’s done nothing but destroy Ukraine. EU leaders refuse to accept that Ukraine cannot vanquish the Russian Federation, causing daily carnage and destruction to Ukraine. Handing Zelensky 200 billions euros, the EU has further the destruction of Ukraine by encouraging Zelensky to keep fighting. If Zelensky and the EU followed Trump’s peace plan, the war would have ended long ago with all its carnage and destruction. Rubio wanted the Munich Security Conference to know that +’the old world is gone and that “we live in a new era in geopolitics,” something rejected by EU leaders. “”The United States claim to leadership have been challenged, and possibly lost,” said Merz. Merz has been fighting Trump’s Ukraine peace plan, saying that it would reward the Kremlin.
+ Setting a more positive tone than last year, Rubio reassured the EU that the U.S. had no plans on abandoning EU security now or in the future. That runs counter to Zelensky’s message that Trump does Putin’s bidding. “We want allies who are proud of their culture and of ther heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same grean and noble civilization, and who together with use are willing and able to defend it,” Rubio said, prompting Vice President Vance to encourage all Americans to listen to Rubio’s speech. Rubio would like to see the EU come around to Trump’s peace plan designed to give more security and stability to the European Continent. Trump sees nothing beneficial for Ukraine or the EU from the Ukraine War. EU leaders have badly miscalculated Putin’s intentions in Europe, seeing the Ukraine war as defending European democracy.
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.R
