This article by Dr. David Bennett argues that the American abandonment of Europe requires that the European Coalition of the Willing be prepared militarily to defend Ukraine unless there is an immediate cease-fire in the Russo-Ukrainian War followed by an international peace conference to end this war which involves European nations.
The public incident that occurred in the White House on February 28th, 2025, in which US president, Donald J Trump and his vice-president, J.D Vance verbally abused Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky was the darkest chapter in the history of American foreign policy. This public verbal attack on the Ukrainian president was a premeditated signal to the American public that the United States was going to cut off all military aid to Ukraine so that the Russian Federation could militarily over-run that country.
Fortunately, the American public did not ‘buy into’ this brazen betrayal of Ukraine so that the Trump administration belatedly returned to an official (but still dishonest) position of supporting this strategically vital European nation. Consequently, very important intelligence sharing with the Ukraine of American satellite technology was quickly reinstated. Alas, the supply of American weapons ammunition to Ukraine has not been resumed so that this nation can still be over-run by Russia in the next two months.
The fall of Ukraine to the Russian Federation aligns with the Trump administration’s foreign policy agenda of dividing the world into spheres of influence between the United States, Russia and Communist China. Even though Russia is in relative terms economically and militarily weak the Trump administration seems to be complicit in allowing Moscow to re-establish the old Soviet empire with Russian hegemony returning to eastern and central Europe. Therefore, following the Russian conquest of Ukraine, the Putin regime will have the necessary territorial springboard with which to invade and occupy other European nations.
Military strategists might point out that Russia has fought poorly in Ukraine so that European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations will be ready and united to resist any future Russian invasion. According to this flawed logic, it will be ‘alright’ to allow Ukraine to fall to the Russian Federation because the Ukranians will have brought the Europeans enough time so that they will be sufficiently prepared to effectively counter any future Russian military threat.
However, it should be pointed out that in the late 1990s and early 2000s the Russians had also fought poorly against the Caucasian republic of Chechnya but eventually prevailed due to Putin’s dogged persistence. Indeed, had Russia not eventually militarily prevailed in Chechnya then Putin could not have successfully intervened in Georgia or launched his 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Following a Russian conquest of Ukraine, the Russian Federation will undoubtedly send out ‘peace feelers’ to threatened European nations to re-assure them that Moscow intends to respect Europe’s current territorial boundaries. Nevertheless, Putin will still probe for weaknesses in European nations so that he can plan future invasions. The ultimate protection which Europe has been able to rely upon since 1945, American military protection, will not be there.
It is probable that Donald J Trump will not be the last of the so-called Make-America Great Again (MAGA) presidents so that US neo-isolationism will, alas, persist well into the twenty-first century. Pan-Europeanists might consider continental unity to be the antidote to American abandonment borne of US neo-isolationism, but Putin has a proven track record of exploiting political divisions to seize opportunities.
Already there are signs that the Russians are exploiting understandable Hungarian grievances dating back to the 1920 Treaty of Trianon so that European unity will not be sufficiently strong enough to compensate for the impending American abandonment of Europe should Ukraine fall.
The current political turmoil which is also occurring in Romania is due to Russan political interference in that nation’s politics. This political upheaval is testament to Russia’s effectiveness in destabilising nations and is an indicator that Europe will not have sufficient political unity to counter Russian aggression unless the European Coalition of the willing is prepared to militarily intervene in Ukraine in the coming weeks.
Furthermore, the Russian Federation is also cultivating the regional ambitions of Türkiye’s quasi- authoritarian leader, President Recep Erdogan so that there will be another disrupter to European stability.
Pan-European optimists might well argue that Anglo-French leadership might be sufficient to compensate for American abandonment of Europe, particularly as these countries are nuclear armed. Unfortunately, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that these two nations, particularly France, could elect future far-right Eurosceptic governments which would give Putin a future free hand to do what he wants in central and eastern Europe as well as in Scandinavia and Finland.
Why Saving Ukraine will Save Europe
The above analysis is bleak but not irredeemably hopeless. This is because the Russian military position in Ukraine can be reversed to favour the Ukrainians if a European Coalition of the Willing is quickly assembled to expeditiously militarily intervene in the Russo-Ukrainian War before or as Moscow’s launches its 2025 Spring Offensive.
As evil as Russia’s Vladmir Putin is, he still has a highly analytical and calculating mind so that he will not resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons should European Coalition troops go into Ukraine to defend but not extend that nation’s borders. Putin knows that Britain and France have the capacity to retaliate with their nuclear weapons should he resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to European Coalition of the Willing *troops intervening in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
(*German troops should not participate in the Coalition of the Willing because this might revive Russian memories of the Second World War so that Moscow might actually resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Instead, Berlin, while still providing aid to the European Coalition of the Willing, should offer to diplomatically mediate to end the Russo-Ukrainian War).
The intervention of European Coalition of the Willing troops in the Russo-Ukrainian War will have to be undertaken without American involvement due to the Trump administration’s complicity in supporting Putin’s attempt to conquer Ukraine. Accordingly, US ploys to instigate joint American-Russian initiatives to achieve a cease-fire should be seen as just that- ploys. The Americans and the Russians know that Ukraine now stands little chance of militarily surviving the onset of a 2025 Russian Spring Offensive so that all that Wahington and Moscow have to do now is to play for time.
The nations of the European Coalition of the Willing should therefore as a matter of urgency publicly announce their preparedness to militarily intervene in the Russo-Ukrainian War unless there is an immediate ceasefire in this war. A cease-fire announcement should be followed by Moscow and Washington agreeing to a genuine international peace conference to end the Russo-Ukrainian War which involves the European Coalition of the Willing.
Conclusion
Time is of the essence if Ukraine and therefore Europe is to be saved from Putin’s attempt to assert Russian dominance over this continent. The assembling and despatch of troops to Ukraine belonging to a European Coalition of the Willing alas has to be undertaken without American involvement and/or support due to Trump’s abandonment of Europe. This abandonment in effect constitutes American collusion with Putin’s attempt to revive a Russian empire which threatens to engulf all of Europe, not just the nations of the former Soviet bloc.
The Russian military position in Ukraine is presently relatively weak so that the European Coalition of the Willing must go in now. Due to this Russian military weakness, the Europeans can successfully militarily intervene without American support, including air cover. However, this intervention must be quickly undertaken while Russia’s military position in Ukraine is still relatively weak.