Trump dealings with Putin a threat to all of Europe not just Ukraine

US president Donald Trump's support of Vladimir Putin in the Russian president's war with Ukraine has become more blatant and should worry Europe. Picture: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File

Ukraine is Europe. And the recent threats by Washington against Kyiv, in favour of Moscow, should worry us all.

This week's behaviour by US president Donald Trump must be a big wake-up call.

Europe needs to accelerate efforts to become independent of the US defensively and in other areas that leave us vulnerable.

For two days straight, unexplained restrictions on Ukraine's military applications of Starlink — Elon Musk's satellite internet network operated by SpaceX — gave Russia the upper hand in pummelling civilian and energy targets.

Ukraine's military said the Starlink satellite communications system was not functioning enough to provide information to guide Ukrainian targeting of Russian energy infrastructure, which is a key military objective for Kyiv in taking out the Kremlin's war machine.

Starlink is under the control of the US government. Mr Musk, on X, reaffirmed this on Wednesday, saying: "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS." 

The disruption handed Moscow the opportunity to ramp up air strikes on Kyiv, attacking bridges, railway networks, and civilians.

Reports say that Mr Trump ordered the suspension of intelligence, but he hasn't confirmed it. However, he had earlier criticised Mr Zelenskyy for not ceasing strikes on Russian energy facilities.

But Ukraine's targeting of diesel refineries is legitimate and logical, given how pivotal they are for Russia's military-industrial complex.

Mr Trump blames these strikes, and not the US-Israel war in Iran, for the spiralling diesel prices that are hitting American and European pockets hard.

Earlier in the week, Mr Trump also suspended diesel sanctions on Russia, allowing the Kremlin to beef up its war machine and hammer Ukrainian families.

He did so in a desperate attempt to ease diesel prices for Americans ahead of the mid-term elections on November 3.

Desperate, because as Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social account, Mr Putin agreed over the phone to "immediately supply" more than 300,000 tons of diesel to global energy markets, with another 500,000 tons to be delivered in November.

According to US experts, this would cover about a day and a half worth of US demand.

Western sanctions, while by no means a panacea to Russia's full-scale invasion, were at least severely damaging the revenue the Kremlin made.

According to the European Commission, in 2021, before the invasion, the EU imported €71bn worth of oil from Russia; about 50% of all exports from Russia. This is now down to about 12%.

The pitiful amount raised by Mr Putin to rescue Mr Trump pales when considering what the move means for Europe and Ukraine.

Russia's war economy fuels the development of more ballistic missiles and low-cost, highly destructive Shahed drones that are used to murder civilians across Kyiv, many miles from the battlefield.

This is amid a global shortage of US-made Patriot interceptor missiles, the only viable piece of military kit that can defend Ukrainian skies from the onslaught of Russian ballistic missiles.

Ukraine and Europe have relied on the purchase from Washington of Patriot systems to defend Ukraine. But supplies are at an all-time low because the US is burning through its stockpiles as part of its war in Iran.

Mr Trump announced — without any discussion with Kyiv — a ceasefire of attacks on energy sites. Mr Zelenskyy agreed, if his counterpart in the Kremlin did, too. But Russian president Vladimir Putin has no interest in peace, or negotiation. At this stage in to his second term, one would imagine that Mr Trump recognised this, too.

Instead, Mr Trump lashed out at Mr Zelenskyy, saying: "I think it's time for Ukraine to get a new president... I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal, because he could have made many deals and, for some reason, he never does."

For Mr Putin, who has been in power for 26 years and counting, no such pressure or blistering criticism comes from Mr Trump.

And the deal Mr Trump's referring to was total capitulation of Ukraine and its people, as demanded by Mr Putin.

Mr Putin's shadow-war attacks on European infrastructure — whether sabotage of undersea cables, frequent incursions into European airspace by military drones with explosive payloads, or mysterious balloons into skies on the eastern flank causing airports in Vilnius or Tallinn to close for hours — mean governments are forced to pay a heavy price for defence and security. That also means less money for other priorities — education, health, society. Mr Trump's deals with Mr Putin harm us all.