Washington wants to “get war out of its way” no matter what this means for Ukrainians – former NATO official

This view was expressed in a comment to Ukrinform by former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General Stefanie Babst.

According to Babst, U.S. President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters “will neither lower their pressure on Ukraine to make concessions to Moscow nor will they change their attitude towards the criminal Russian regime” in order to normalize its economic and private business with Russia.

“Annoyingly for Trump, Putin doesn’t show any inclination to stop playing back and forth. He simply doesn’t want to end his terror campaign against Ukraine,” the expert emphasized.

“In order to get out of this vicious Greyhound Day cycle, as President Zelensky said in Davos, Europeans, Canadians and Ukrainians must agree on smart and effective ways to target Russia’s military and economic centers of gravity. Together they could succeed. If only Europeans had the courage to do,” Babst added.

Commenting on the absence of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the NATO meeting, Babst said this did not change the overall strategic picture. In her view, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby – the third-ranking official in the Pentagon – presented the U.S. defense strategy to European and Canadian colleagues, likely repeating the usual call to allies: “You all must do more,” while probably giving the green light to allied plans to demonstrate greater military presence in the Arctic region.

“Another pre-styled NATO meeting will not impress Moscow; neither will another series of grandiose speeches in Munich this weekend,” Babst concluded.

As reported, NATO defense ministers’ meetings are scheduled to begin in Brussels on February 12.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, when asked about Secretary Hegseth’s absence, said the participation of Deputy Secretary Elbridge Colby at the NATO defense ministers’ meeting was justified, given his ability to answer many questions from European allies.

Photo: Dr. Stefanie Babst