A similar question might well be asked in Washington and Moscow about the political and military ability of the 18 world leaders gathered in London on Sunday by Sir Keir Starmer to impact what might be the endgame of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Starmer has called for “a coalition of the willing” which is to act as a “peacekeeping” force in Ukraine, supposing it gets a guarantee of American military backing. Since Russia has repeatedly vetoed the presence of troops from Nato countries in Ukraine as a part of any peace deal, and Trump last week refused to provide a guarantee of American air support, Starmer’s strange idea looks moot.
The very use of the phrase “coalition of the willing” to describe a putative European deployment in Ukraine is ominous, since the phrase was first used over 20 years ago about those countries (notably the UK, though not France and Germany) who were willing to join President George W Bush’s disastrous US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
It is reasonable enough for the Europeans to offer greater support for Ukraine in the shape of more money and military supplies, so long as nobody in Kyiv imagines that this will strengthen them sufficiently to categorically reject a US-Russian deal.
A problem for Starmer’s “peace plan” is that his ideas for any long-term agreement, insofar as they are known, appear to ignore what Russia wants.
square PATRICK COCKBURN
Newsletter (£)
Critics of Trump must have their own peace plan
Read MoreAs with Tony Blair and most British prime ministers over the last century, Starmer visibly enjoys playing the role of mediator and “building bridges” between the US and the European powers. Yet, of all US presidents, Trump is the least likely to welcome diplomatic bridge builders. During the infamous row with Zelensky, he said that he alone can reach an agreement with Russia and doubtless he believes just that.
He denies that there is a rift between the US and Europe, when the exposure of this yawning gap was the reason for the London meeting. He insists the UK is somehow in “lockstep” with the US, which is “a reliable ally”, when Trump is pursuing an entirely different policy towards Ukraine and Russia than America’s European allies.
Shocking proof of how little their views weighed with Trump and vice-president JD Vance came almost immediately when the pair launched their ferocious verbal assault on Zelensky. What is not clear yet is if Trump wants the Ukrainian leader out or tamed.
Monster though Trump may well be, his Ukraine peace deal, if and when it happens, is the only game in town.
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