President Don TrumpPutin has achieved a diplomatic victory. In a demonstration of the "art of the deal," he posed to be a peace-maker, when in fact he was collaborating with the Russian leader Vlad PutinTrump.
If this deal goes through, not only will America WIN, but just as important Ukraine and Europe will LOSE. The United States will get mineral resources from Ukraine, in exchange for support given in the past (under President Biden). AND the United States will get investment opportunities in Russia in exchange for support given it during the "peace negotiations."
Russia will be rewarded with territory, and the economic sanctions against it will be lifted. Its bombing of hospitals, schools, and other war crimes, and its kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children will not be punished. It also appears likely that Russia will not object should Trump-putin acquire Canada and/or Greenland.
Ukraine will get nothing. The war has given it billions of dollars of damage, plus thousands of dead and wounded. If the plan goes through, Ukraine will be crippled. shrunken, bankrupt, and denied membership in NATO or the EU. President Trump-putin says this is only fair because Ukraine started the war by forcing Russia to invade. (Trump repeats this nonsense!)
Europe gets a lesson. Do not count on the United States. When the United Nations was founded, the Americans signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It promised to uphold the right to national self-determination, and the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and due process of law. President Trump-putin is actively working against these rights at home and abroad
The era of international law appears to be coming to a close. This marks the end of the American Century. When entering World War I, Woodrow Wilson wanted to make the world safe for democracy. But the US Senate embraced isolationism instead, and it refused to ratify American membership in the League of Nations. Trump is the political descendant of those Senators.
His policy is "America First," which apparently means "Russia second, Britain third, Europe fourth, fourth Canada, fifth Mexico, far down the list, Denmark, near the bototm, Ukraine, and China last." This ranking can also be seen in the Trump-imposed tariffs. There are no tariffs for Russia, low tariffs on Britain, higher tariffs on Europe, higher still for Canada, and more than 100% tariffs for China.
Some possible consequences of Trump's policy toward Ukraine.
1. Europe rearms; Germany reasserts itself as a military power.
2. Europeans join Canadians and Mexicans as "former friends" of the US, and as a result no longer support the American dollar, travel less to the US, and move some of their trade elsewhere.
3. A wave of Ukrainian refugees floods into Europe.
4. China avoids tariffs by exporting through shell companies in Russia. More importantly, China grows stronger and becomes the world's dominant economy.
5. The United States, its moral leadership in tatters and its military support uncertain, withdraws from NATO.
6. Russia rebuilds its armed forces and plans further attacks, since its ambition is to recreate the geographical boundaries of the Soviet Union before it fell apart.
