A recently hastily organized meeting of carefully selected European leaders in London in response to the failure of the agreement between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his counterpart Donald Trump regarding the exploitation of alleged mineral wealth in Ukraine was truly a memorable event. Such a hysterical clash of people with themselves has not been seen in a long time. They would strengthen Ukraine’s negotiating position – although despite all American-European assistance, Ukraine is losing the war. They fear a major Russian invasion of Europe – even though the Russians have been inching ten centimeters at a time through that same Ukraine for three years, and it is not entirely clear what the Russians are coming to Europe for. Museums and galleries? To take the ‘Mona Lisa’? They would engage in that war, but only with American support. They would want a ceasefire, otherwise a clear non-starter for Moscow, but only in the air, at sea, and in the energy structure, which is an idea that the greatest scientific minds have yet to decipher. They would finance the arming of themselves and Ukraine, while their economies are practically stagnant, struggling with inflation and facing a potential trade war. Moreover, the weapons and equipment they have at their disposal or can produce are not at any level, which brings them back to America, without whose armament there is nothing. In short, they found themselves to show that they can do without America, only to conclude that they cannot do without America.
Minor lapses
And then, as a true friend next to whom you do not need an enemy, Zelensky states that the war is far from over, managing to further infuriate the man on whom the whole story depends, as he has clearly indicated that he wants to end the war quickly. Moreover, he considers this one of the cornerstones of his mandate. Unsurprisingly, the response came quickly in the form of pausing American aid to Ukraine, and Zelensky covered himself in ashes… But these are just minor lapses of the collective European brain compared to the root problem – where do Europeans even get the idea that they can conduct a serious war? It is enough to skim through elementary school history textbooks to see what the reach of European military power has been in the near and distant past. Napoleon and Hitler walked through that same Europe as if it were lungo mare. In the first case, ironically, they were saved by the Russians, in the second by both the Russians and the Americans. France was driven out of Algeria and Vietnam. The British left India because the alternative was that the natives, once Gandhi had awakened and organized them, would throw them all into the sea. The last European adventure was Libya. There, they were saved from shame, again, congratulations on your quick response, by the Americans, whom they barely persuaded to participate. Believe it or not, the Americans were not overly enthusiastic about that war and only got involved after repeated European persuasion and after it became clear that Europeans were not adequately equipped and prepared.
