US President Donald Trump has erased decades of American policy and sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is what Anne Applebaum writes in an analysis for The Atlantic, after Washington lifted sanctions on the import of Russian diesel fuel.
According to the author, in the last 72 hours alone, Trump has undermined 18 months of his own diplomacy. She claims that the decision on Russian fuel also contradicts legal restrictions previously signed by the US president himself.
The pressure on Kiev
Applebaum recalls that Trump threatened to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine if the country continued to attack Russian oil refineries. In her words, Washington is thus demanding that Kiev give up its most effective weapon, without setting the same condition for Moscow.
The author also notes that Trump has not condemned Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities and factories, including on facilities owned by American companies. Applebaum also points out that the president has not expressed condolences for Ukrainian children who died in Russian shelling.
She also connects the pressure on Ukraine with Trump's promise to reduce fuel prices in the United States. According to the analysis, the president is trying to convince American voters that high prices are caused by Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, and not by his own war against Iran.
Possible deals with Russia
Applebaum believes that the pursuit of lower fuel prices does not justify deals that, in her opinion, benefit Russia. She describes Trump's actions as a "drastic, desperate attempt" to force Ukraine to capitulate and save the Russian economy.
The analysis also points out the possibility that the US president may want to finalize business agreements being discussed between Russian officials, American negotiators and people close to Trump. Among them are deals related to the Nord Stream gas pipeline and mining in the Arctic. This is the author's assessment, not a confirmed decision by the US administration.
Warning to Allies
Applebaum writes that the US's European allies and other partners have been trying to explain to Trump the significance of the war and the threat posed by Russia. According to her, these efforts have not yielded results.
“America today is a capricious, unpredictable power, whose established foreign policy can be impulsively revised overnight“, writes Ann Applebaum.In her words, the first conclusion for Ukraine and other allies is that they should not rely entirely on the United States. The second is that the Trump administration is susceptible to influence by business interests. These conclusions are part of Applebaum's analysis of the consequences of the president's decisions, and not an official position of the US government.
Sources: focus-news.net, theatlantic.com