Representatives of NATO and the EU arrived uninvited at the Ukraine negotiations in Washington. And Donald Trump sent them back home with plenty of baggage. For their current predicament, Europeans have only themselves to blame.
Now that an end to the bloody conflict in Ukraine seems to be looming with a Russian victory on the horizon, the direction of Europe’s political travel has turned 180 degrees. Until just months ago, Macron, Scholz, and von der Leyen traveled in glamorous media entourages—mostly by train—to Kyiv.
Today, Washington has become the sought-after destination. Europeans are now hoping that the very man they have fought against with all (un)lawful means for a decade will bring peace to a conflict they themselves fueled to the last moment—with money, weapons deliveries, and total disregard for the Ukrainian people and their immense blood toll.
President Donald Trump received the delegation, led by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after his negotiation round with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He added them into a broader agenda that also included German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Finland.
Against the backdrop of the recent Russia-gate revelations, Europe’s constant verbal attacks, and London’s active campaigns against Trump in past U.S. elections, this was in fact a generous gesture from the U.S. president.
Europe Plans for a War Economy
But the trip ended in disaster for Rutte & Co.: Ukraine is buying €100 billion worth of weapons—paid for by Europeans. And even in the event of peace, they are now left to guarantee Kyiv’s security alone. Russia, meanwhile, still holds the stronger cards: Russian forces continue making territorial gains, and it remains unclear how Europeans—after breaking the Minsk agreement—intend to convince Moscow to agree to peace.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted in a 2022 interview that the Minsk accords were signed merely to buy time to arm Ukraine. That is the kind of duplicity that destroys trust and makes reconciliation nearly impossible.
The key question remains: Why should Russia agree to a ceasefire or even a peace treaty if the other side is only using the pause to consolidate its military power?
Inside the EU, the trend points clearly toward militarization and a war economy. Brussels has repeatedly emphasized this. Beyond massive national rearmament, the European Commission itself plans to channel up to €800 billion into a continental defense sector by 2034—through direct allocations, loans, and investment guarantees. The stated goal: closing the technological gap with the U.S. and China and transforming the EU into a military superpower.
Fatal Messaging
Of course, Europeans have the sovereign right to build their own defense industry. But Moscow reads these billions for tanks and missiles as a direct threat. The result: an arms spiral threatening to spin out of control.
And even on this crucial day of negotiations, von der Leyen and Macron repeated that sanctions pressure on Russia must be maintained and weapons deliveries to Ukraine secured. Conciliation, bridge-building diplomacy—no longer the EU’s business.
Von der Leyen insisted that Europe would keep economic and diplomatic pressure on Russia as long as bloodshed continued. “We will tighten sanctions further. We have already passed 18 packages and are preparing the 19th for early September.” Macron added that there would be “no limits” to the size of Ukraine’s armed forces. Does this sound like a war party truly interested in peace?
Europe’s Decline
What yesterday revealed once more: European politics has slipped into the second league of power within the global balance between the U.S., China, and Russia. And Trump knows how to stage that fact in front of the cameras. One photo showed the European delegation lined up like schoolboys in front of the massive oak table of the Oval Office—a further humiliation after the devastating trade deal they were forced to swallow.
The EU’s entire strategy was based solely on pushing the U.S. into the Ukrainian battlefield and finishing the war on Europe’s behalf—just as it has tried in past major conflicts.
But Trump, and that’s what makes him so dangerous from a European perspective, is pursuing a patriotic, U.S.-centered foreign policy—de-escalating postcolonial conflicts and pulling America out of geopolitical entanglements. That strategy includes withdrawing from the Ukraine war.
The power structure Trump envisions is trade-based, rooted in the dominance of the U.S. dollar, capital market integration, and an attractive investment climate. For Europe’s quarrels over energy and old-world conflicts, he has no interest.
European Interests
The Europeans left Washington not only empty-handed. They were effectively reduced to middlemen for U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine and left to foot the bill. European taxpayers and new debts will finance America’s weapons industry—the next deal Trump adds to his ledger.
The historical irony is unmistakable: centuries after the U.S. declared independence from its European masters, the old continent is now reduced to paying tribute to its former colony.
That is exactly what is happening when the EU commits itself—out of economic and military weakness and energy dependence—to buying American LNG and financing American weapons for Ukraine.
The European age of geopolitical dominance is over. It ended with World War II, when the U.S. and later China claimed hegemonic power. Trump has now reminded Europe, for the second time, that the new gravitational center of global politics lies firmly in the Pacific.
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Thomas Kolbe, born in 1978 in Neuss/ Germany, is a graduate economist. For over 25 years, he has worked as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination. Follow him on Twitter/X: https://x.com/ThomKolbe.
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