Europe may deal with Russia separately from America. Don't act as if this is new.
If the United States pursues its own deal with Russia to end the Ukraine War, it cannot expect the Europeans to refrain from engaging with Russia on their own.
Ah, the old European "strategic autonomy" goal. Which means the European Union. Which means that the EU doesn't actually care about Russia policy. The EU cares about the authority to have a Russia policy.
Europeans can pretend this is America's fault. But during the Cold War, Europeans reached out to the Soviet Union separately from unified NATO action. Remember Ostpolitik? Mind you, I concede they had reasons to worry.
But don't pretend Europeans would be happy if America was aggressive in its leadership in Europe through NATO. Or in the Middle East, for that matter. It's a geopolitical Goldilocks problem.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: You may also like to read my posts on Substack, at The Dignified Rant: Evolved. Go ahead and subscribe to it. It's the right thing to do!
NOTE: Photo of Ostpolitik in action from this site.
