{"id":38779,"date":"2026-09-08T05:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/38779\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T05:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:09:11","slug":"tom-collins-the-west-must-stop-trumps-bid-to-sell-out-ukraine-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/38779\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Collins: The West must stop Trump\u2019s bid to sell out Ukraine \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT\u2019S said to be darkest before dawn. Really?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something I\u2019ve taken on trust, I\u2019m sure some readers have tested the truth of it; but, true or not, as a metaphor it works.<\/p>\n

At one time or another we\u2019ve all nearly given up just before the point where things turn around. <\/p>\n

The people of Ukraine must be praying they are at that point.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a><\/p>\n

Four and a half years into the Soviet invasion of their country \u2013 12 years from the annexation of Crimea \u2013 there is no end in sight to the horrors of war. It\u2019s dark there right now. <\/p>\n

In recent weeks Russia has been stepping up its assault on infrastructure and civilian targets, while Ukraine\u2019s response has been checked by a shortage of weaponry, and by the presence of a bad actor in the United States. With allies like Trump, who needs enemies? <\/p>\n

At the weekend, Trump\u2019s \u2018yes-men\u2019 were kow-towing to Vladimir Putin in Moscow, before heading to Ukraine to put pressure on its beleaguered president. <\/p>\n

For those of us who grew up through the period of the Cold War, the sight of once-mighty America prostrating itself before Putin is pretty shocking. Making America Great Again must be one of the most hollow political slogans in modern history.<\/p>\n

\"FILEUkraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Alex Brandon\/AP Photo\/Alex Brandon) <\/p>\n

In just a few years in office Trump has destroyed its economy, committed human rights abuses on innocent citizens, undermined its allies, and made his country a laughing stock in the global community. <\/p>\n

Well, I say laughing stock. It would be funny if the consequences were not so serious for the rest of the world. <\/p>\n

The mid-term elections, due in November, cannot come too soon. But regardless of their outcome, much irreparable damage has been done, and Trump has another two years in office.<\/p>\n

I for one would not be surprised if he staged a coup to hold on to power. He has form. <\/p>\n

At the root of Ukraine\u2019s \u2018United States\u2019 problem is Trump\u2019s fetishisation of power and his love of strong men who get their way by force.<\/p>\n

He might as well have a bust of Putin in the Oval Office alongside those of Lincoln and Churchill (a man who, whatever his faults and they were many, understood the threats posed by tyrants). <\/p>\n

As another winter approaches, things are becoming more perilous for Ukrainians as Putin targets essential infrastructure and continues to whittle away at their resolve.<\/p>\n

But the winter is not just a problem for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russians are also feeling the effects of Putin\u2019s hubristic assault on a neighbour, in spite of Kremlin claims that it is making progress on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"AA woman looks at a residential building damaged by a Russian air strike in Sloviansk, Ukraine (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP) (Ukrainian Emergency Service via ) <\/p>\n

Food and fuel shortages are having an impact. Meanwhile, ordinary Russians are burying their dead \u2013 young soldiers forced into a conflict fought to satisfy the ego of a modern-day Tzar. <\/p>\n

If the Trumpistas believe the war is an irritant, and that Zelenskyy should just throw in the towel, Europe knows differently. Putin has been executing a game plan designed to destabilise the European Union and Britain and to undermine Nato. <\/p>\n

Attacks on infrastructure, cyber warfare, and drone incursions on neighbouring states are one side of his campaign of attrition. Cosying up to the far right across Europe is another.<\/p>\n

Britain, once considered Great, was played by Putin with ease. Brexit \u2013 facilitated by Nigel Farage and his allies \u2013 will go down as one of Putin\u2019s finest foreign policy achievements.<\/p>\n

Europe \u2013 Britain included \u2013 needs to get real about the Russian threat and redouble its efforts to secure justice for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

It must act as a counterbalance to the United States, refusing to be party to any sell-out of Ukraine driven by the White House, and it must steel itself in the face of Russian aggression. <\/p>\n

In an ideal world, Putin would realise the folly of his ways and understand that peace, not war, is the key to delivering a high quality of life for his citizens; that peace in any language is key to stability and security, that peace is the only way for Ukraine and Russian to accommodate one another as friends not foes. <\/p>\n

But this is not an ideal world. Putin is wedded to his desire to make Ukraine once more a vassal state. <\/p>\n

That must not be allowed to happen. Ukraine must be reinforced, Europe needs to engage with the opposition in the US post mid-terms, and any diplomatic efforts to bring about the end of the war must ensure the sovereignty of this nation which is unquestionably the victim of unjustified aggression.<\/p>\n

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\n Pen names are not allowed.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IT\u2019S said to be darkest before dawn. Really? It\u2019s something I\u2019ve taken on trust, I\u2019m sure some readers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}