Viewed from Europe, the US’s failure to defend the people of Ukraine against Russian aggression is the greatest and most consequential of a host of recent American betrayals. It’s not just the sickening subservience shown to Vladimir Putin, an indicted war criminal and mass killer. As the full-scale war Putin launched in 2022 stumbles into its fifth bloody year this Tuesday, Europe, like Russia, is in deep trouble. Yet so too is the US, though Trump and his mouthy muppets, Marco Rubio and JD Vance, don’t realise it yet. Trump’s risible “peace process”, overseen by a business crony and his simpering son-in-law, indulges Putin’s maximalist demands while excluding Europe.

Source: The Guardian February 21, 2026 19:30 UTC