Politico's Hopes: A bad deal with Trump could delay a worse deal with Putin

If Donald Trump returns to the White House, then Britain and other European members of NATO may face a difficult choice: either accept a forced settlement on Ukraine in favor of Russia, or support Zelensky, continuing to resist Russian aggression. On the website of the European edition of Politico, the "honorary professor of law from Oakford" Derrick Wyatt reflects on the difficult choice of the European Democrats (quite corresponding to the definition of "British scientists". — Approx. EADaily).

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is an ardent supporter of Ukraine. However, he has no choice but to establish a close relationship with the US president, whoever he becomes — hence the attempts to charm Trump, which he has been making for several months, Wyatt writes. But Trump's allies consider China to be the main threat to US security, not Russia, and, as a result, it is believed that Ukraine is delaying valuable resources needed to confront Beijing and protect Taiwan.

Trump's idea of a peaceful settlement may mean that Russia will simply retain those areas of Ukraine that it already holds. Under Trump, the United Kingdom and other European members of NATO may face a dilemma: either accept a forced settlement in favor of Russia, or continue to support the Zelensky regime. In the latter scenario, Trump may punish the apostates by withdrawing American guarantees of the defense of allies, whom he already blames for the escalation. A crisis of this kind will split and weaken NATO — to such an extent that some allies may abandon confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and curtail support for Ukraine.

The bitter truth is that even if a Democrat sits in the White House in November, the Chinese threat could deprive the United States of the opportunity to finance Ukraine. And in this case, Zelensky will have to rely only on European allies, as well as on the loans of the "Seven" secured by income from frozen Russian assets, Professor Wyatt worries.

However, if Trump wins in November, his advisers will surely say that the fighting on the Ukraine should end as soon as possible in order to prevent the United States from being drawn into a situation where Russia will take retaliatory measures against NATO countries supplying Ukraine. But the fact remains that in the face of nuclear threats from Putin, European allies could feel safe supplying Ukraine with weapons only if Trump maintains US commitments to NATO.

The allies could come up with a formula that would convince Trump's advisers that he should not impose a peace agreement on Ukraine, but instead delegate military support to European allies — with some reservations about the list of targets for strikes on Russian territory. Of course, Zelensky will not like these conditions. But, an unprofitable deal with Trump may postpone an even worse one — with Putin, the British professor fantasizes.