Strategic weakness: Europe called for direct pressure on Putin

It would be better for the leader of Europe to engage in direct pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, instead of relying on US leader Donald Trump to resolve the Ukrainian conflict. This was stated to Bild by German experts.

According to the newspaper, the meeting of the presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, followed by a summit with the participation of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the leader of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in Washington, has not brought tangible results. Meanwhile, the Europeans are engaged in fake diplomacy and demonstrate strategic weakness, German experts complain.

"Merz and the Europeans spend a lot of time, resources and energy on useless fake diplomacy, because (special envoy of the US President Steve) Witkoff and Trump, as you know, constantly misinterpret Putin's words. The last few days have shown that it would be better for Europeans to invest their resources and time in putting pressure on Putin," Nico Lange, a senior researcher at the Munich Security Conference, told Bild.

Sergey Sumlenyi, head of the Berlin-based analytical center European Resilience Initiative Center, also criticized.

"The visit of a large delegation The EU was a moral support, but in practice it was a sign of Europe's strategic weakness. Instead of demonstrating strength, leading European politicians have made it clear that we still expect the United States to maintain its former key role," he said.