Trump’s policies undermine Ukraine’s interests — The Telegraph

U.S. President Donald Trump continues to make decisions that run counter to Ukraine’s interests, further complicating Kyiv’s situation, The Telegraph reports, citing US diplomatic sources.

“President Trump has introduced greater uncertainty – and uncertainty, to be blunt, is anathema to alliance relationships because those relationships are based on certainty. So it means that deterrence isn’t as strong because someone like Putin can’t be certain that the United States would be there for Europe,” said Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. 

According to him, transatlantic ties have become far more fragile, which in turn undermines NATO cooperation and assistance to Ukraine.

Even so, Haass accepts that the “worst fears have not come to pass” and notes how Trump’s policy has had the “positive and constructive impact of increasing the European defence effort”.

So Trump has delivered more money, but less certainty, he said, adding that NATO's strength depends on both – not just on expensive military capabilities but on the credible willingness of every ally, particularly the United States, to defend any member if attacked.

By Khagan Isayev