After presidential candidate Donald Trump's statements that he
will not provide aid to Ukraine
to continue the war if he wins the presidential election in November and Vladimir Putin's decision to be ready for nuclear war, the security of Europeans has been left in doubt
. hands of the EU and its nuclear powers.
France and Great Britain must prepare their arsenals and their armies for a conflict.
Increase their exhausted military budgets
and see how they replace the United States in NATO in that context, if Trump wins the election, to guarantee the fate of the European Union.
The war, according to Putin
President Putin warned that Russia is ready for a nuclear war over Ukraine. He described Western leaders as “vampires” with a taste for “human flesh.”
In a rambling interview broadcast on state television on the eve of Kremlin-controlled presidential elections, Putin, 71, said Moscow would not hesitate to use its nuclear missiles if there were threats to the existence of the Russian state or its sovereignty and independence.
Moscow has
the world's largest nuclear arsenal
with 5,580 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Putin during an interview with Russian TV.
Photo: Reuters
"Weapons exist to be used," Putin said
.
He also boasted that Russia's nuclear triad of land, air and sea missiles was far more advanced than the United States'.
Our [nuclear arsenal] is more modern,” Putin said.
The United States has the second largest reserves in the world.
Europe defenseless
Europe
needs a nuclear strategy to counter Putin
.
Trump's irresponsibility leaves Britain and France
with vital roles
in protecting the continent if Ukraine loses the war.
“Donald Trump has made Monday, March 11, a day that will be remembered
as shameful.
His statement that if he became president after the next election Ukraine would not receive a cent more in aid was
as dangerous as it was foolish
.
It was exactly what Vladimir Putin longed to hear.
He no longer needs to assume that he would have to make real concessions, as Volodymyr Zelensky would do, if the war is to be ended through negotiations,” Malcom Rifkind, former British Conservative chancellor, explained this Wednesday.
Rifkind is one of the
Tories' most prestigious
international analysts and negotiated directly with Moscow during his tenure.
“Thanks to Trump's irresponsibility,
Zelensky would be negotiating from a position of weakness
,” warned the British politician.
“The dictator of Russia would demand not only the Ukrainian territory that he has illegally occupied.”
Ukraine would also be required
to renounce its independence
from it and become a permanent vassal of Russia, as part of its “sphere of influence,” he predicted.
Will Trump stop being an ally?
Trump's threats “will be closely studied in Beijing, Tokyo and Taiwan, as well as kyiv.
“Xi Jinping will be encouraged that if the United States under Trump were to abandon not only Ukraine but also the leadership of NATO and the West, his commitment to protecting the freedom of Taiwan and the territory of Japan and South Korea would be severely undermined,” he said. Rifkind.
“The United Kingdom, Germany and France must now accept that the United States under
Trump could cease to be a reliable ally
and guarantor of Europe's security,” warned the former British chancellor.
Trump, a bad omen for Europe.
Photo: AP
“It is not just Ukraine that is being threatened by Trump but Europe as a whole.
“NATO countries must begin a fundamental expansion and modernization of our defense capabilities over the next five years to confront a hostile and aggressive Putin regime,” he said.
“Both the Government and the Labor Party should accept the need for
a rapid and substantial increase in
UK defense spending to 3 per cent of our GDP, with similar increases in Germany and France.
Europe
is much richer than Russia
and can meet this challenge, if it has the will to do so.
We also need to use
Sweden and Finland's new NATO membership to help protect the Baltic States
.
The Baltic Sea is now, overwhelmingly, a NATO-controlled lake,” she analyzed.
Devastate Moscow
“But there is another unprecedented threat, which would emerge under a Trump presidency.
“Europe, for the first time since 1948, may not be protected by the United States
from the threat of nuclear war
or nuclear blackmail from the Kremlin,” Rifkind said.
“It would be very serious, but there is already a way to protect Europe from Russian nuclear threats.
The United Kingdom and France
are nuclear weapons states
, with significant nuclear weapons arsenals.
These arsenals are, of course, much smaller than Russia's, but
they could still devastate Moscow
, St. Petersburg, and much of Russia as much as Putin could destroy Western Europe.
We and France will need to develop
a new nuclear deterrence strategy,
for our own security and that of Europe as a whole,” recommended the former British chancellor.
“We must now work with Germany and all our European neighbors to ensure that, if Trump becomes president again and carries out his stated threats, Europe's combined conventional and nuclear weapons will be able to protect democracy and freedom in Europe,” Rifkind said. , the politician who
he mentioned more clearly the Russian nuclear risk in Europe.
In France, I support Ukraine in Parliament
President Emmanuel Macron caused controversy by announcing that
it could not be ruled out that European forces would reach Ukraine
.
For Putin
it would be the limit
to start the war against Europe.
On Tuesday afternoon, the war that has been facing Ukraine and Russia for two years was the subject of bitter debates in the French National Assembly.
The debate, decided under article 50-1 of the Constitution, was announced by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, the day after his controversial speech about a possible sending of Western troops as reinforcement to kyiv.
Verdict: following the Prime Minister's statement this Tuesday at the Bourbon Palace, the agreement to support Ukraine was voted by a majority of deputies, with
372 votes in favor and 99 against.
From the podium of the Lower House, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, immediately echoed the statements of the President of the Republic.
“We do not exclude, in principle, any option.
“We do not set limits on Russia, which does not set any limits,” he stated, specifying that the Government does not position itself, however, on a “logic of escalation.”
Before remembering, in the process, the objective of this debate and this symbolic vote: for each deputy to give their opinion on the support agreement for Ukraine, signed by Emmanuel Macron and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, for
civil and military of France
, over a horizon of “ten years”.
An agreement "in a collective logic": 25 countries have adhered "to this approach", specified Gabriel Attal, before warning, in the direction of the Insumisos and the communists, who had announced a little earlier their desire to oppose, and to Reagrupación National (former National Front), which had planned an abstention.
"Voting against
is giving Vladimir Putin all the arguments
and a signal that he is waiting for. Abstaining is evading his responsibilities before history."
A “facade pacifism” also harshly criticized by the president of the Macronists in the Assembly, Sylvain Maillard.
In the National Assembly support for Ukraine
is unanimous
.
The terms of the agreement, a little less.
The head of state's recent statements have been widely criticized by the opposition.
Without confrontations, several parliamentarians criticize Emmanuel Macron's comments on the sending of European troops to Ukraine.