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PARIS — The cri du cœur came yesterday from Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister and former president of the European Council. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to address the Republican senators who on Wednesday rejected a package that included aid to war-torn Ukraine. He told them: “Ronald Reagan, who helped millions of us to win back our freedom and independence, must be turning in his grave today. Shame on you!”
Reagan, known for his economic liberalism, is revered in Eastern Europe above all for having stood up to the USSR during the Cold War, and for having declared to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on June 12, 1987, in Berlin: “Tear down this wall!” Two years later, the Berlin Wall fell and Eastern European countries regained their freedom.
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Reagan was an old-fashioned Republican, the antithesis of Donald Trump and of the isolationist party he shaped in his image. A party that is ready, today, to sacrifice Ukraine’s fate both for domestic political reasons and fascination with Putin’s authoritarian model. Just look at how yesterday’s interview with the Russian President by ultra-conservative journalist Tucker Carlson is being publicized by the Trumpian ranks!
American failure
There is both surprise and bitterness in the Polish prime minister’s statement, which is shared by all those who have experienced Soviet domination: they have developed an unshakeable faith in U.S. protection.
My job is first and foremost to make sure that the Americans stay in Europe to protect us.
A few months ago, the leader of a Baltic state whom I pressed with questions, along with other journalists, about Europe’s strategic autonomy, replied, annoyed: “My job is first and foremost to make sure that the Americans stay in Europe to protect us.” You can imagine his dismay when the possible next resident of the White House is ready to let go of Ukraine.
The Europeans are determined: “Europe will be there if the Americans fail in Ukraine”, a senior French official recently said. But it will take more than voluntarism.
International tentions
The European Union has made a great leap forward in supporting Ukraine in the last two years. But it is still a long way from replacing the United States. For example, the Europeans have been unable to meet their commitment on shells, which will be delivered with a delay of almost one year.
International climate, uncertainties over weapons, fatigue on the ground …
The result is a serious imbalance on the ground, as Russia has truly become a war economy. In Avdiivka, a town where serious fighting is taking place, the Russians are firing five times as many artillery shells as the Ukrainians, who are ceding ground. This will certainly be at the heart of Monday’s “Weimar Triangle” meeting in Paris between France, Germany, and Poland.
The sluggish international climate, uncertainties over weapons, and fatigue on the ground, including President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s decision yesterday to replace his head of armed forces, the very popular General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, are weighing on Ukrainian morale and creating tensions. The news from Washington certainly doesn’t help.
