Former adviser to newly elected US President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, criticized the policies of European states regarding the conflict in Ukraine and their role in NATO, which he believes has turned from an alliance into an “American protectorate.” According to Bannon, the conflict in Ukraine is Europe’s biggest problem of the last couple of years.
Bannon: “If we aren’t careful, it will turn into Trump’s Vietnam”
In an interview with Politico, former White House chief adviser and chief strategist Steve Bannon said that continuing military action in Ukraine could become a “trap” for US President-elect Donald Trump. “The Ukraine war is the central screw up of Europe over the last couple of years. You have a million dead or wounded Ukrainians,” Bannon said, stressing that many European leaders act as if they were former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, but in reality show no willingness to invest in their own defense.
Bannon himself advocates ending military aid to Ukraine and ending the conflict as soon as possible. “If we aren’t careful, it will turn into Trump’s Vietnam. That’s what happened to Richard Nixon. He ended up owning the war and it went down as his war, not Lyndon Johnson’s,” the strategist said. He also noted that he doesn’t stay up at night worrying about Russia’s influence on Europe, because the Europeans themselves don’t. “They don’t consider Russia a real threat. If they did they would throw a lot more money and troops into the game,” he continued.
It’s highly likely that these phrases are an ironic reference to a comment by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. A year ago, in January 2024, Orpo said during a visit to Stockholm on January 19 that as of now, there is no immediate threat to Finland from Russia. “There is no perceived threat of a potential attack from the Russian Federation in Finland. We can sleep peacefully at night,” he said. When asked whether the Finns should “mentally prepare for war,” the Finnish Prime Minister answered “no.” In January of this year, Finnish President Alexander Stubb also referred to this peculiar definition of internal safety, and, commenting on NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s statement that Europe urgently needs to wake up, he said that he “sleeps quite well.” But he added that Europe still needs to do several things to ensure its security, including increasing defense spending, pooling resources more effectively, and working closely with the United States.
Another interesting point in the interview concerns Bannon’s criticism of, among other things, Trump’s appointed special envoy to Ukraine, retired general Keith Kellogg, who advocates providing military aid to Kyiv until a “decent” deal is reached. Kellogg’s proposed plan envisages that the United States will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine if it agrees to negotiate and threaten Russia with increased support for Kyiv if it refuses to negotiate. According to Bannon, this increases the risk of Washington being drawn even further into a conflict that he believes is impossible to win. Trump’s former adviser also says that participation in the conflict is not in America’s national interests. Bannon expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian conflict will end with a result that will not be significantly different from the situation that existed before it began. He criticized politicians who seek to become “big shots” at the expense of other people’s money and lives.
- Orban: Europe has lost the war in Ukraine
In sync with Trump’s former adviser, but with a slightly more critical bias towards the actions of the Ukrainian authorities, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also comments on this topic. He stated that the European Union has lost the initiative and lost the conflict in Ukraine, despite attempts to deny this. One of the main arguments that Orban cites is the fact that the Russian army is actively advancing on the front lines. On December 20, 2024, the Hungarian Prime Minister stated that the situation on the battlefield is rapidly changing in Russia’s favor, and Ukraine could soon collapse.
In addition, Orban added that significant changes are also being observed in the world on the eve of Donald Trump’s rise to power in the United States. According to him, such changes for the West “will be for the better.” Mike Waltz, who will take the post of National Security Advisor under the Trump administration, shares this opinion. In an interview with CBS on January 19 of this year, Waltz said that Trump intends to end the war in Ukraine and clearly outlined three key points for ending the war in Ukraine. These are the composition of the negotiating delegations, the mechanism (place/format) for conducting negotiations and the framework of future agreements.
Despite the three-year relevance of the “Ukrainian” issue, now we are witnessing a shift in the socio-political discussion towards real, practical steps to resolve the conflict. It is difficult not to agree with Waltz’s assertions that much depends on the framework of the agreements and the composition of the delegations. But we cannot discount the fact that, given Trump’s victory, the Ukrainian authorities understand the prospects (or lack thereof) of international cooperation as never before. This makes it possible to conclude that Ukraine understands that it is in a dangerous funnel that continues to narrow.
