Why Trump is sacrificing Ukraine
President Donald Trump is currently outdoing himself in his eagerness to copy Russian views and to please Vladimir Putin. Why?
There are various explanations. The most popular is the assumption that Putin has kompromat that he can use to blackmail Trump and make him compliant. Recordings of Trump's sexual escapades during previous visits to Moscow are suspected to constitute the kompromat. Another assumption relates to President Biden's energetic support for Ukraine in its defensive struggle against Russia. Because Biden acted so pro-Ukrainian, Trump now wants to act in the opposite way, i.e. pro-Russian, so the assumption goes.
Notwithstanding these hypotheses, there is also a possible geopolitical aspect to Trump's behavior: i.e. Trump's attempt to renew and strengthen his friendship with Putin in order to protect America from its enemies in the Far East: China and North Korea.
Three years of Western sanctions punishing the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine have isolated Russia. Despite all of its tricks, smuggling and shadow fleets, the effects of the sanctions became increasingly unpleasant for Moscow; Russia also became more and more isolated diplomatically.
Now Trump has broken Russia's shackles in one fell swoop, made Moscow presentable again and held out the prospect of removing the sanctions. What is driving Trump to do this?
It was probably Putin's flirtation with North Korea's Kim Jong-un that startled Trump and his court. Putin and Kim together is a deadly pairing that should keep Washington awake at night. The combination of Kim's nuclear technology with Russian expertise in both nuclear technology and missile construction threatens to push the US mainland into the target area of the ruler in Pjoengyang. It is clear that Western sanctions have cornered Putin in such a way that by dropping Russia's long-standing self-limitation he has offered Kim to assist him in military development-- in order to win his friendship and his military support. Thus Kim gained access to cutting-edge technology that not only Russia but also China had denied him.
The causal chain is a simple one: Russia overruns Ukraine. America and Europe oppose the aggression and isolate Russia. Russia seeks help from China, Iran and North Korea. China hesitates, but North Korea responds enthusiastically, hoping that Russia would help it to bring America to its knees. A desperate Putin is forced to satisfy Kim. Trump recognizes the mortal danger this means to the USA and decides to intervene. But how?
By breaking Putin's isolation, by restoring his world standing and offering him his part of Ukraine, plus sacrificing the obnoxious Zelensky, Trump seeks to convince Putin -- in exchange for all the goodies -- to drop his new friend Kim and cease to collaborate with him before supersonic intercontinental missiles with nuclear warheads able to reach the US mainland are set up on launch pads hidden deep in North Korea's mountains.
Heinrich von Loesch PS: And what will happen to Ukraine?In an interview with VOA, Frederick Kagan said a Russian victory in Ukraine would be a victory for Iran, China and North Korea, encouraging adventurism in their respective regions, and allow Russia to rebuild its army by obtaining additional human and material resources within Ukraine. A Russian takeover of Ukraine would send a wave of refugees into Europe, further destabilizing the continent, Kagan said. “They’ve committed atrocities on the Ukrainian population in the areas they occupy. I would expect that would get worse the further west the Russians move and the more they move into the hardest traditional anti-Russian, pro-Western areas of western Ukraine. The horrors will be unspeakable,” he predicted.