A Damaged U.S.-Europe Relationship – and What it Means for Ukraine

EXPERT INTERVIEWS – In its first six weeks, the new Trump administration has made statements and taken actions that suggest a profound and perhaps generational shift in American foreign policy – in particular, a willingness to break with European allies and engage with Russia. Few actions symbolize the shift more than this week’s U.S. refusal to support a United Nations resolution that condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity; the resolution had been drafted by U.S. allies and Europe, and the U.S. rejection put it in the company of Russia, Belarus and North Korea. 

To some experts, these developments suggest a re-ordering of the U.S.–European relationship, unlike any since the period that followed World War II, when the transatlantic alliance and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were created. Others caution that for all the drama of the past several weeks, most of it has involved statements rather than concrete actions. There is still no deal or even a draft deal, for example, to end the war in Ukraine.