A top US military official has warned Donald Trump may prolong the end of the war in Ukraine.
Colonel Jonathan Sweet explained how the president could bring the conflict between Russian and Ukraine to an end, but that it would rely on military intervention and the help of NATO. He wrote in The Hill, "Trump has the cards to end the war, but those cards need to be played against Russia and not Ukraine.
"He must coerce Russia to stop attacking, give up their territorial aspirations for the Donbas, and accept a European military peace-keeping force in Ukraine.
"That will likely require military force. It begins with a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over western Ukraine, sufficiently arming Kyiv to defeat Russian forces in Ukraine, and destroying Moscow’s ability to fund and sustain the war.
"Anything less equals a Team Trump forever war in Europe." Sweet had previously referred to this prolonged decision-making as a "forever war" which Trump may have orchestrated.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were present for talks between the two nations, which Col. Sweet says did little to ease the tensions.
He wrote, "The talks commenced and concluded in Abu Dhabi the next day. The outcome? Russia refused to back off their maximalist demands and continued to demand Ukraine unilaterally withdraw from the Donbas.
"The U.S. is now 0 for 7 in its negotiations with Russia to end the war — chiefly because Ukraine stubbornly refuses to commit national suicide.
"Kyiv will not give Moscow in negotiations what the Russians cannot take on the battlefield. Nor should they be persuaded or coerced into doing so."
EU diplomats believe the relationship with Trump has broken down and that their dreams of working with him and the administration in the future are dead.
One EU diplomat said, "Our American Dream is dead. Donald Trump murdered it." Another senior envoy from a country described as a "key American ally" by Politico suggested the "trust is lost" with the U.S.
They added, "We are experiencing a great rupture of the world order."