17 hours ago 3

Ball in US’ Court on Ukraine: Trump Will Have to Force Ukraine to Fall In Line or Quit the Fight

Russia has zero faith in Volodymyr Zelensky keeping his word on any agreement, including when it comes to the possible reactivation of of the Black Sea grain deal, and it will be up to the United States to force Ukraine to fall into line, Foreign Minister Lavrov has said. Sputnik asked a leading European geopolitical analyst about Trump's options.

“The US can make and unmake Ukraine, any time,” says veteran international affairs observer Paolo Raffone, highlighting the immense degree to which Kiev depends on Washington for military, economic and other support.

“The next US moves depend on domestic issues, namely the power struggle within the US deep state and its European epigons,” Raffone, the director of the Brussels-based CIPI Foundation think tank, explained.

If Trump’s team proves unable to impose peace on Kiev, Washington may simply quit the conflict, leaving it Europe’s problem. "It would not be the first time for the US to suddenly abandon a battlefield," Raffone pointed out.

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“European support will not be able to fill the gap in the next months." But the even bigger problem that will fall on Europeans' heads is having "to deal with violent, armed Ukraine nationalists that may also destabilize several EU states to gain further unconditional support. Should Ukraine not follow the US-prescribed steps, the US will most probably be gone and Europeans will be in deep trouble for years to come,” Raffone fears.

As for Brussels, if it continues to pursue its strategy of attempting to consolidate a pan-European identity built on enmity toward Russia, it “may end up in the fragmented implosion of the EU, making each member state even less relevant in the global world. The contradiction with the EU founding principles – peace, stability, growth – is already quite evident,” the observer pointed out.