There is shock and fear as a result of US administration statements. Europe must use the moment, or face the consequences.
By Olga Tokariuk, for CEPA
I can’t stop thinking about the words of a survivor of the war in Bosnia, journalist Aida Cerkez, who warned Ukrainians at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion that the thing that would hurt us most will not be missiles and bullets, but lies.
Ukrainians expected lies from Russia. The sheer scale of the dehumanizing disinformation from the Kremlin’s propaganda machine was indeed huge, targeting both domestic and foreign audiences. But to hear many of those talking points repeated by the world’s richest man, and then by the president of the United States, a country that has been a champion of democracy and that supported Ukraine since Russia first launched its invasion in 2014, well, Ukrainians certainly didn’t expect that.
It is painful to hear President Trump’s allegations that Ukraine is to blame for the war and his praise for Russia and its president, a despot who denies Ukraine’s right to exist and who launched a unilateral, unprovoked full-scale invasion of my country three years ago.
It is also certainly not true that Ukraine’s president is a dictator. Ukraine held free and fair elections regularly, and Ukrainian people rose up twice to defend their right for free elections and for democracy at the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. President Zelenskyy was legitimately elected in 2019 with 73% of votes, and is currently supported by the majority of Ukrainians (his approval rating is 63%, according to the latest polls). I didn’t vote for President Zelenskyy, but I believe he did an admirable job in standing up to Russia in 2022, mobilizing other countries’ support and keeping Ukraine united.
It is true that Ukraine hasn’t had an election since 2019, but there’s a reason for that: Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and the martial law that had to be introduced in Ukraine as a result. Like the United Kingdom from 1939-1945, it would be unsafe and near-impossible to conduct elections while the enemy bombs you on a daily basis.
Hundreds of thousands Ukrainians serve in the armed forces, almost 7 million have fled abroad and as many as 4 million are internally displaced — would it even be possible to ensure their participation in the elections while the war is ongoing, or even during a ceasefire? And if elections were announced now, would Russia refrain from interference or step up its campaign to destabilize and divide Ukrainian society, as it had done before?
The United States now seems to have taken the same stance as Russia — that Ukrainians have no right to determine their own future. His administration’s willingness to hold talks with Russia without Ukrainians or Europeans, and to make concessions to the aggressor, while pressuring Ukraine to accept a deal which does not offer any real security guarantees and might lead to a loss of its statehood and sovereignty, cannot be accepted.
Too many Ukrainians, for too many years, have fought and died for our country’s freedom and democracy. Ukraine must not be let alone now to face two like-minded strongmen who believe that might make right. We count on the support of the UK, Europe and other free nations whose future will also be decided by the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
Can it really be that the US is essentially siding with Russia against Ukraine? Can that really be happening?
And if it is, will Europe prove agile enough to step in through a coalition of the willing to defend Ukraine and itself from an increasingly aggressive Russia. Will it send troops and transfer seized Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense?
Without this, Russia will be rewarded for its aggression and emboldened to steal more territory. Except that next time, it won’t just be Ukraine that sees a barbarian army come crashing across its borders.
You may not want this, fellow Europeans, but you can be certain that this is what will happen.
By Olga Tokariuk, for CEPA
Olga Tokariuk is a Non-resident Fellow at CEPA. She is a journalist and disinformation researcher and is an Academy Associate at Chatham House in London.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
