Western Europe’s Paris summit was essentially the politics of wishful thinking
The reason is unclear, but supporters of Ukraine entered this week’s Paris meeting of the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ in a near-euphoric state. Having just come from the spectacle in Venezuela, they convinced themselves that Donald Trump could be persuaded to do far more than just endorse Western Europe’s stance.
Some seriously expected American troops in Ukraine. Others went further: issuing an ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw to the 1991 borders, maybe even deploying Tomahawk missiles for good measure.
In short, they were dreaming of victory. If that seems exaggerated, one need only read the commentary circulating in Ukrainian opposition media (https://t.me/stranaua/221909). This isn’t fringe propaganda, but a once-respected publication called Strana that’s been banned in Ukraine since 2021. The mood was clear: history was about to change.
Reality, as usual, was less dramatic. The only concrete result of the Paris meeting was an empty, non-binding declaration. No new security guarantees. No American commitments. No change to the core logic of the conflict. Ukraine once again remains the ‘main deterrent’ against Russia, and no one seems ready to change that setup.
There were also moments of unintentional humor. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was reportedly saying that his country would now take on responsibility for the security of the entire European continent.
One couldn’t help but note that Germany does have experience in this area, though not necessarily the reassuring kind.
Meanwhile, alarmist claims spreading through Russian and Western European Telegram channels that Macron and Starmer committed to military bases in Ukraine are simply false. No such commitments were made. The declaration vaguely mentioned ‘military hubs’, a term so vague as to be meaningless. This idea has been circulating for over a year without going beyond rhetoric, with or without American support.
The United States, for its part, remained tellingly silent. The only comment was from Steve Witkoff, who attended the meeting, concerned about BlackRock’s role in Ukraine’s future prosperity. Moreover, he specifically focused on post-war reconstruction and budgetary discipline. In other words, business as usual.
As predicted, hopes of securing a binding agreement with Washington collapsed, along with the broader Euro-globalist strategy being pursued alongside Kiev.
Yesterday’s grand talk was just a substitute for real leverage. As one observer dryly noted, after such a comfortable gathering, someone would eventually have to find the courage to call Moscow.
Whether Moscow would even respond is another question, but the response is easy to foresee. Any Western military presence in Ukraine will be flatly rejected. The message will likely come from the third tier, like Dmitry Peskov or Maria Zakharova, while Sergey Lavrov and Yury Ushakov reserve their words for Washington, and Putin only speaks to Trump.
The conclusion is straightforward. Western European attempts to ‘manifest’ their desires have only produced information noise. Washington sees this clearly and isn’t fooled. Trump’s approach to Europe can be summed up bluntly: extract money, sell weapons at inflated prices, avoid risk, and maybe grab Greenland while at it.
This arrangement can’t last forever. But, as they say, that’s a conversation for another time.