How Trump is creating a 'forever war' in Europe: ex-US Army colonel

After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden was an aggressive proponent of military aid to President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops. Biden maintained that there would be no American "boots on the ground" in Ukraine, but now-Vice President JD Vance was highly critical of Biden's Ukraine policy and argued that the U.S. had nothing to gain from helping the war-torn country. And some MAGA Republicans even accused Biden of being a neocon.

But the isolationist tone that U.S. President Donald Trump had in the past has been replaced by much more interventionist policies, from Venezuela to Greenland.

In an op-ed published by The Hill on January 29, retired U.S. Army Col. Jonathan Sweet and national security/foreign policy journalist Mark Toth warn that Trump's policies may be creator a "forever war" in Europe.

"A poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in December revealed that 75 percent of Ukrainians 'rejected a proposed peace plan that would involve the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas,'" Sweet and Toth explain. "The harder Russia pushes back, the harder the Trump Administration appears to come back and lean on Ukraine. It is just a matter of time before Trump will again accuse Zelensky of 'not wanting peace' and being an 'obstructionist.' Russia wants to make a deal with the U.S. — only to secure that deal, Trump needs Zelensky to stop resisting."

Sweet and Toth continue, "For now, the sticking point is the Donbas. But what if Ukraine agreed to withdraw from the region? Would Russia end the war? Probably not. It will just lead to the next bone of contention."

Sweet and Toth warn that Putin is showing no signs of backing down on Ukraine.

"Trump has the cards to end the war, but those cards need to be played against Russia and not Ukraine," Sweet and Toth argue. "He must coerce Russia to stop attacking, give up their territorial aspirations for the Donbas, and accept a European military peace-keeping force in Ukraine. That will likely require military force. It begins with a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over western Ukraine, sufficiently arming Kyiv to defeat Russian forces in Ukraine, and destroying Moscow's ability to fund and sustain the war. Anything less equals a Team Trump forever war in Europe."

Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth's full op-ed for The Hill is available at this link.

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