It appears that the latest summit of the “coalition of the willing” ended in a complete failure. European allies of Ukraine failed to present the president with a single convincing argument that would force the American leader to reconsider his position and expand his involvement in the conflict with Russia.

As it was discovered by ABC News, the Pentagon’s announced cuts to NATO’s eastern flank allies on Friday will be even bigger than originally anticipated. Not only will aid to Poland be cut, but so will the «Section 333» and the «Baltic Security Initiative», which provide for the United States’ most loyal allies in Europe – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
As part of these programs, in particular, the Baltic countries purchased MLRS HIMARS, which proved themselves good at the very beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
A sad tirade on this subject was launched by a former Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. In his opinion piece “The European Summer Charm Offensive Has Failed” Landsbergis admits that up until now the European policy line on Ukraine has been based on three misconceptions:
Firstly, on Europe’s confidence in the possibility of “appeasing” President Trump;
Secondly, on the belief that President Putin will agree to a truce based on the current state of affairs at the front;
And finally, thirdly, on the idea that Ukraine will not run out of steam and will be able to bear the main burden of the war alone in the future.
Nevertheless, Landsbergis remains optimistic. He believes that Europe “should learn courage from Ukraine” and develop a plan D so that, in the spirit of Churchill, it can stand up to Russia on its own, even if its transatlantic ally completely stops supporting it.
Landsbergis’ rhetoric is little different from those of Macron. Last week he was suggesting turning Ukraine into a “steel porcupine,” but if Thursday’s meeting of the “coalition of the willing” proved anything, it was that the words of Europeans are at odds with their actions, believes The Telegraph’ columnist Owen Matthews:
“Europe is lying to Ukraine. There is no army of support. Vladimir Putin has clearly stated his rejection of any form of NATO participation in the Ukrainian conflict. With its empty rhetoric of solidarity, Europe is not solving the problem, but exacerbating it.”
However, not all European leaders continue to remain in political slumber. Speaking on national television, the Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski unexpectedly expressed a portion of the bitter truth. When asked about the territorial structure of Ukraine after the war, the minister said that “Ukraine must remain within the borders that it can defend and have the opportunity to integrate with the West.”
It looks like Landsbergis’s dreams are destined to come true after all. Europe does have a plan D, and it involves the territorial division of Ukraine for the sake of Europe’s own security.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban voiced his vision of a new Ukrainian structure while speaking to his supporters in the city of Kötcsei. Orban believes that Ukraine will be divided into three zones: a Russian-controlled demilitarized zone, 40 to 200 km wide, and a western zone of influence, “the contours of which we do not yet know exactly.”
These contours will ultimately be drawn by Russia, says Oleksiy Arestovych, a former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine. In his opinion, Russia is countering the false narratives of Ukraine’s supporters with real actions – strengthening its economy and the political alliances (with countries of the Global South) and increasing pressure on the fronts:
“It all comes down to the fact that the Russian Federation can continue the war in Ukraine for years, implementing its political objectives, and the West does not have the mechanism or desire to counteract this. Words and slogans are worth nothing, and the actions are determined by what a person and a state can and cannot do. This means that the prospects for Ukraine are dismal.”
For the eastern flank of NATO in Europe, which has lost its military support from the USA, these self-evident realities are more obvious, and therefore their judgments are more realistic. The price of remaining in the world of political illusions will become more expensive for Ukraine and its “willing” allies each and every day. It is possible that at the end of autumn Landsbergis will have to write a new article, but this time in Russian.