Yuri Kobzar15:20, 06.12.25

Trump no longer just secretly dreams of dividing Europe with Putin; he officially declares this in the US national strategy.

The new US National Security Strategy should serve as a final warning to Europe that it is left alone in containing Russian expansion. At best, Washington will simply stand aside; at worst, it will assist Moscow.

This is what Natalie Tocci, an Italian political scientist and international relations expert and director of Istituto Affari Internazionali, a leading Italian think tank, writes in an opinion piece for Foreign Policy .

“Europeans have lulled themselves into believing that US President Donald Trump is unpredictable and inconsistent, but ultimately manageable. It’s oddly reassuring, but it’s wrong,” she writes.

Tocci notes that the new US national security strategy released this week demonstrates the Trump administration’s desire to have good relations with Russia, not Europe. She believes the US president dreams of joining Putin in “divide and conquer” the European continent, entrusting much of the “dirty work” to nationalist, far-right European forces backed by both Moscow and Washington.

“It’s high time for Europe to realize that when it comes to the war between Russia and Ukraine and the continent’s security, it is, at best, on its own. At worst, it now faces two adversaries: Russia in the east and Trump’s United States in the west,” the analyst warns.

Tocci criticizes Europe’s “turn the cheek” to Trump in an attempt to preserve the already fractured transatlantic alliance. She believes Europeans should finally take their own security into their own hands.

“Russia’s war for imperial conquest begins with Ukraine, but it doesn’t end there, and Kyiv’s capitulation will only free up Russian resources to open new fronts against Europe. Ukraine, unfortunately, is the gateway preventing the hybrid war already raging in Europe from escalating into a much more serious military attack,” she warns.

The analyst urges European leaders to focus on long-term goals rather than squabbling over short-term issues. In this context, she believes it’s necessary to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, even if this creates certain legal problems. After all, Ukraine’s defeat will cost Europe significantly more in the long term.

The new official US strategy

As UNIAN reported, earlier this week, the White House unveiled a new US National Security Strategy, which reads more like a declaration of friendship between the US and Russia against democratic Europe. This document represents a further blow to Europe’s relations with the US .

The document declares the priority of an “America First” approach, reducing US security commitments in Europe, and effectively halting further NATO expansion. The strategy emphasizes that European countries should provide for their own defense, while the US will concentrate its resources on other regions.

At the same time, the strategy defines “restoring strategic stability” in relations with Russia as a key priority, avoiding directly identifying Russia as the aggressor in the war against Ukraine. Analysts believe this balance appears favorable to Moscow.

The document describes European countries in a sharply critical tone – as a region with demographic, economic and civilizational problems, which is allegedly losing its ability to be a reliable partner.

(C)UNIAN 2025