I would like to contribute to Paul’s recent essay by trying to put institutions and persons into a different perspective.
If you find the tone somewhat cynical, then you may be right.
It’s about politics after all.
Russia
It is easy to see the big brute Russia as the bad guy and Ukraine as the harmless victim in this war. But we have to take into account that for the former USSR, Ukraine after Russia, was the single most important republic of the Soviet Union.
The EU and NATO’s takeover of Ukraine was not only a direct threat to the Russians, but it must also feel to them as an attempt to hijack a beloved family member. Russia has a history of attempts at conquest (Napoleon, WW1, WW2), but never as sneaky as presently by the EU. And that’s besides Ukraine’s ogling NATO.
Ukraine
To say that Ukraine has a turbulent past is a gross understatement.
The Mongol invasion, the Crimean-Nogai raids, and the Cossack rebellion are mere examples.
Wikipedia:
‘By 1921, following the Soviet-Ukrainian War, Ukrainian lands were divided: the eastern territories became the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, aka Soviet Ukraine.’
The country long had to deal with a line of cruel Russian rulers from Lenin Vladimir Lenin 1917-1922, Jozef Stalin 1922-1953, Nikita Khrushchev 1953-1964, Leonid Brezhnev 1964-1982, Mikhail Gorbachev 1985-1991.
Gorbachev was the one exception in the long row of extremely dangerous leaders. He ended the Cold War and the Soviet Union fell apart.
Ukraine became independent when the USSR was dissolved in 1991
We must not forget that the country’s governing elite has not done a particularly good job.
Enormous corruption and suffocating bureaucracy were the hallmarks of the administrative system.
Civil servants, when given the chance, can be as ruthless as any tyrant.
Anyway, I can’t help but think that, in hindsight, Ukraine would have preferred to merge with Corbachev’s glasnost and perestroika Russia rather than choose for a future in which it has to defend itself against the aggressive and power-hungry Putin in a devastating war.
putin
I dislike and detest Putin as much as the next guy, but that doesn’t mean that I dislike or loathe the Russians. Their leader makes every Russian look bad in our eyes, but is this a correct picture? Of course not. Putin fits one to one in a row of suppressors that all made their people look bad.
Tyrants like Kim Il-sung, Leopold II, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Hitler, responsible for the deaths of millions, each one of them.
But wait, King Leopold II of Belgium? Really? Well, Google this guy.
About the less close countries, Cambodia, North Korea, China, Nigeria etc. we take for granted that “the people over there follow their leader and are at least partly as ruthless”.
But Belgium? We all know what Hitler did by murdering 6 million Jews, but that Leopold II’s brutal regime cost the lives millions and millions of Congolese is less known.
Well, these guys did not do this all by themselves. They had help. From the people. Doubtlessly, we all know a lot of German and Belgian folks. Are these bloodthirsty killers? The majority of them are not what we may hope.
It is much like the biggest bully of the school, who has his circle of ‘fans’. Cowards who like to be in the center of power and who are happy that the boss’s evil attention isn’t towards them. They are attracted to violence and prepared to force the much bigger number of the normally harmless ones to commit atrocities and then justify their acts. This is what happens in Russia today.
I’m sure that statistics will show that the country doesn’t have a greater relative share of bastards than Belgium. They just have at present a devious, wicked leader. Which of course endangers the stability of the entire world.
Europe
The European countries now are very much aware of the threat of the Russian bully, especially the former Eastern Bloc (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania) and particularly the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. But lately, they felt safe under the solid EU/Nato umbrella.
The EU countries dreamed on, from a superior position called democracy, which they thought was so raised above other government institutions that the rest of the world’s switching to this philosophy was only a matter of time.
Moreover, their friend, the USA, an even bigger bully than whatever totalitarian regime, would be ready to fight for them.
They had an alliance in NATO, and their most impressive mantra was: one for all and all for one.
The EU/Nato members often forgot to pay their contribution, but who cares, since they knew that the USA would make up for it and would always come to the rescue when things went wrong.
Trump
There is not so much likable about Trump. And it is easy to blame him for acting on issues where he leaves Europe pitifully behind.
And he doesn’t do this cautiously, no, he is the big bully in the china cabinet.
But we have to admit, Trump and some smart fellows around him, Rubio, J.D. Vance, are at least looking at the big picture.
Are they really concerned about Ukraine, the war, the large number of casualties, and the destruction? No, they couldn’t care less.
Trump decided that he no longer wants to play the good cop of the world, as his predecessors did for decades, while having made the US pay dearly for this.
First, he forced the NATO members to face reality, no more cheap membership, no more free lunches.
Next, he reasoned: Ukraine is a European country, so let Europe deal with it.
But he soon found that Europe doesn’t amount to much; it just could send money and donate a few outdated weapons.
No, real help will, as always, have to come from the US: modern weapons and especially accurate satellite information about enemy targets or incoming projectiles.
Meanwhile, the Americans realise that in the long term, this will not work out so well.
The war can’t be won by Ukraine, Putin will never surrender.
On the geopolitical scale, the balance will shift towards Russia, forming alliances with dangerous countries like North Korea and China.
The leading Americans understand that this war is not in their favour (as Joe Biden thought) and that they should end it. Trump shows up with his plan, and deliberations between the US and Russia start. Europe wasn’t even invited, an open statement of contempt.
The EU reaction to the plan was exceptionally critical, with the view that decent, respectable Ukraine was effectively handed over to Russia.
Forgotten was the destruction of Nord Stream by Ukraine without informing their European helpers and even lying to them about the matter, and causing them great harm.
Two days after Trump’s plan came out, I saw this publication in the news:
“The Ukrainian delegation is working in Geneva today, focused on finding doable solutions to end the war, restore peace, and guarantee lasting security. There have already been brief reports from our delegation members about the outcomes of their first meetings and talks. Currently, there is an understanding that the American proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and critical for Ukrainian national interests. Further work is ongoing to make all elements truly effective in achieving the main goal anticipated by our people: to finally put an end to the bloodshed and war,” Zelensky said.
Trump isn’t doing so bad, but on the other hand, no one is so naive as to think that the war will soon come to an end.
War criminal Putin is even escalating hostilities as we speak.
But the fact remains: negotiations have been started and with these, the pressure exerted on Putin by internal Russian sources to end this extremely costly war will increase by the hour.
And for that we may thank Trump.
Eef
November 2025
Editorial comment:
Eef is correct in mentioning the list of dictators, each responsible for millions of casualties. I had previously read up on Korea, China, and indeed the Congo. When reading up on such atrocities, we in Europe often seem to look just around the corner, forgetting about the further away corners of the earth. And yes, you should read up on Leopold II!
Where Eef mentions NATO countries forgetting to pay their contribution (according to trump), it has to be noted that NATO is not a club requiring members to pay for membership. Instead, members are expected to spend a certain percentage of their GDP on defense. And indeed, many NATO members had not come close to that assumed percentage. In his 1st term, trump pointed this out, casually remarking that five percent should be spent – a value that seemed more like a spur-of-the-moment than something planned. In his limited view on how the world works, he implied that NATO countries were to pay the USA for their part in protection – obviously, such payments were never implied.
The critique on Europe in their minor role in negotiating peace in Ukraine is partly correct. However, trump ran for office with the solemn promise to end the war in 24 hours. And that was from when he was elected, not when he would take office two months later. The eyes of the world have since then been on trump to fulfill that promise. Also, trump was widely known for his good relationship with putin, which made Europe trust the USA to take the lead in these negotiations. The past half year has made clear that trump will not end the war, and trump cannot be trusted to support Ukraine or indeed NATO countries. Remember him threatening to invade Canada, Mexico, Greenland, and, more recently Venezuela – note that some of these are NATO countries and all these threats were made during his yet short reign over the USA.
Eef mentions the turbulent past of Ukraine. And while we in Europe all want the war to end, russia to retreat, and give Ukraine the option to join both the EU and NATO, I too remember a not to distant past where Ukraine played a sinister role. Starting in the early 2010s, and continuing until the war began, Ukraine was deemed one of the main culprits in cyber criminality against European businesses, institutions, and governments. Sure, there were others from russia, Belarus, and of course North Korea, but Ukraine played a not insignificant role in these activities.
Paul
2025-11
Sweden