Macron walks tightropy with Trump, making the issue of Europe on Ukraine

There is no doubt that relations between Europe and the United States are in crisis, so keeping things together as French President Emmanuel Macron did at the White House on Monday as an achievement.

He did this through praise, temptation and expression gently the American president, as they took questions in the Oval Office and held a joint press conference. This is the play that many leaders see all over the world now more productive than explicit speaking or Trump’s criticism.

Macron was able to move in what could have been a difficult day in Washington without giving up or revealing a lot.

He talked about both countries who want peace, and while he corrected Trump’s claim gently in Europe’s support for Ukraine, he also agreed that Europe needed to take more responsibility for its security.

But Macron made one important distinction-that Trump was right to re-establish a kind of relationship with Vladimir Putin.

This is in a sharp contradiction with opinion so far in London, Paris and Berlin, which all followed Putin’s isolation and slapping the sanctions on Russian industries and individuals.

“There is a good reason to re -return President Trump with President Putin,” Macron said, adding that the new administration represents a “major change.”

Macron retained the possibility of European countries such as France and the United Kingdom ready to play a leadership role in ensuring post -Try Ukraine security, perhaps in the form of air force and the forces stationed away from the front lines.

But at the same time, he stressed the importance of an American behind.

However, Macron did not get our commitment to his meeting at the Oval Office. If he is looking for a group of Russian President’s criticism from Trump, he will not get it too.

What he got, at least somewhat, the voice of Europe on the table and will take, along with other European leaders, some heart.

However, it is clear that the aspirations of re -establishing the type of close relationship that Europe and the United States have had since the end of World War II are not on the road map of anyone.

This is why Macron himself is working on the idea of ​​the most independent Europe strategically for some time, with the ideas of the European Defense Forces joint.

His feeling is shared that Europe needs adaptation given the dramatic shift in the American position by Fredchich Mirz, who will be the next German adviser.

Mirz has already said he believed the United States during the era of Donald Trump is indifferent to the fate of EuropeAnd that the continent needs to be independent of the United States in terms of security.

“My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as soon as possible, so that we can achieve independence from the United States,” said Mirz.

But France, the United Kingdom and Germany also should be aware of the fact that all European powers are not hostile to the presence of the US view on Ukraine.

The rise of extremist right -wing nationalist parties in Europe, most notably in places such as Germany, where AFD ranked second in Sunday elections, indicates that some European citizens also doubt the continuous support of Kiev.

Later this week, UK Prime Minister Sir Kerr Starmer, who was breathing closely with his French counterpart, will come to Washington to strengthen his cause in Ukraine.

He, like Macron, believes that his country has a special relationship with the United States that can open doors and have a fair hearing.

The problem is that Washington is in the shape of Donald Trump in the current transmission mode – pushing a agenda that does not leave a big room for others.

While America has always had the ability to bend its muscles and reach its path, Europe is mostly not at the recipient. Indeed, it has changed is a sign of how dangerous this rupture is in the coalition in place.

Follow the fluctuations and turns in Trump’s second presidential term with the North American correspondent Anthony Zurer weekly American policy is not owned Newsletter. Readers in the United Kingdom can Subscribe here. Those can outside the United Kingdom Subscribe here.