Lord Ashcroft, courtesy of Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

From the Daily Express, as republished at LordAshcroft.com, June 19, 2024, Lord Ashcroft opines that Avoiding war with Russia over Ukraine invasion may no longer be an option.  Excerpt:

In my role as the lead sponsor, I have just attended the three-day Black Sea Security Forum in the Ukrainian port of Odesa, the so-called “pearl of the Black Sea”. During my visit, I was struck by the fact that so many informed politicians and military figures – from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean – now doubt the US’s commitment not just to Ukraine but to wider European countries too.

Those concerns centre largely on what will happen after the November US elections, when there is every chance that Donald Trump will be voted in for his second term as President.

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One major problem that President Zelensky faces in the US is that both main parties know that massive support for Ukraine – and the cost that goes with it – is not a vote-winner in the November election.

Senior figures attending the weekend forum in Odesa now fear that whoever is President after the November vote, he will push strongly for a peace deal – even one that allows parts of Ukraine, the so-called “Occupied Territories”, to remain with its Russian invaders.

The Democrats’ support for Ukraine so far is widely seen as half-hearted: continually giving Ukraine just enough support not to lose the war but never enough to win it.

More worrying, many Republicans are advocates of the “America first” strategy and they want to end the US’s massive war funding for Ukraine. Donald Trump himself has often aired his anger that European nations who are also Nato members do not pay their way when it comes to defence.

So the reality that Ukraine and its European allies are now contemplating is that the on-going war with Russia may have to be fought in future without significant support from the US. In short, the US’s days as the self-styled “defender of the free world” are over.

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No European nation relishes war with Russia but most realise that inaction is not an option. As Leon Trotsky, the famous Russian revolutionary, once put it: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.”

Glory to Ukraine!