Roving Periscope: Worried, Europe tries to broker Ukraine peace, and save NATO

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Amid fast-changing, kaleidoscopic geopolitical games, and realignment of forces after the recent Washington meltdown, Europe is trying to broker peace and present to the US a one-month truce plan for Ukraine, and somehow save NATO from potential collapse as an angry Washington warned Europe to worry more about illegal immigrants than about Russia.

Taking a dig at Europe on his Truth Social platform, US President Donald Trump said: “We should spend less time worrying about (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our country. So, we don’t end up like Europe!”

The US President’s remarks came after European leaders rallied around Zelenskyy over the last weekend when the Ukrainian leader was berated by Donald Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in front of reporters in the White House, signalling a stark change in his approach towards the war and closer ties towards Russia.

Even before the spat, Trump had called for closer ties and economic cooperation with Russia, sending shockwaves across Europe and leaving them with the possibility that the US may rescind its support for Ukraine.

According to the media reports until Monday afternoon, several European leaders, who met at a summit in London on Sunday, supported Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and promised to do more to help his nation.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK, Ukraine, France and other nations would form a “coalition of the willing” and draw up a peace plan to take to US President Donald Trump.

“We are at a crossroads in history today,” Starmer said. “This is not a moment for more talk. It’s time to act. Time to step up and lead and to unite around a new plan for a just and enduring peace.”

But Zelenskyy, while praising Europe for support and agreeing to go once more to Washington for talks, again demanded ‘security guarantees’ after the unprecedented rebuke he received from US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Friday last.

“Everyone is united on the main issue – for peace to be real, we need real security guarantees. And this is the position of all of Europe – the entire continent. The United Kingdom, the European Union, Türkiye,” Zelenskyy said in post on social media platforms, the media reported.

“What we need is peace, not endless war. And that’s why we say security guarantees are the key to this.”

France, Europe’s largest nation, is, however, worried, as it remembered how Russia defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and others in the past few centuries. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the risk of a European war is heightened as the Ukraine “front line keeps getting closer to us.”

“Never has the risk of a war in Europe, in the European Union, been so high … the threat keeps getting closer to us, the front line keeps getting closer to us,” Barrot told France Inter radio.

His remarks came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron said France and Britain are proposing a partial one-month truce that would not cover ground fighting.

But some leaders are worried at the unfolding harsh realities, after Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine was not prepared for any kind of territorial concessions, envisaging the area of 20 percent of Ukraine that is occupied by Russia, which he wants returned to Ukraine.

Reacting to Europe’s support to Ukraine, the Kremlin said pledges made by European leaders at the London summit over the weekend to increase funding to Kyiv will only prolong the conflict in Ukraine.

In Moscow, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the results of the summit, including a USD 2 billion air-defence missiles deal from Britain, will allow hostilities to continue. Zelenskyy must be forced to seek peace, he said, adding the Ukrainian leader’s clash with President Trump showed how difficult it will be to reach a settlement on the conflict.

Asked about Zelenskyy’s remarks about not conceding any territory to Russia, Peskov said that the situation on the ground had changed since the failed Istanbul talks in 2022.

“Only a blind person can fail to see this,” he added.

“The White House has become an arm of the Kremlin,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, told CNN. “It appears America is trying to align itself with dictators.”

Meanwhile, Trump also boastfully took credit for the “lowest-ever” illegal border crossings in February. “There were only 8,326 apprehensions of Illegals by Border Patrol at the US – Mexico Border, all of whom were quickly ejected from our Nation or, when necessary, prosecuted for crimes against the United States of America,” he said.

Taking a dig at his predecessor Joe Biden, Trump said there were 300,000 illegal crossings in a month under the previous government and all of them were “released in our country.”

“Thanks to the Trump Administration Policies, the Border is CLOSED to all Illegal Immigrants. Anyone who tries to illegally enter the USA will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation,” he added.

Earlier, his deputy JD Vance had said that the “greatest threat” facing both the US and Europe is illegal immigration.