With its unclear position in the conflict over Ukraine, Germany is strengthening the NATO critics around Donald Trump in the USA. On Monday, President Joe Biden has the opportunity to make Chancellor Olaf Scholz aware of this at a meeting in the White House.
American soldiers on their way to Europe.
A radio host recently asked former US President Donald Trump whether the US should support and arm Ukraine in the conflict with Russia. Trump replied: “I would really say it’s a European problem.”
Trump has thus expressed almost diplomatically what the Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson has been drumming into his conservative audience of millions with angry monologues for weeks. According to Carlson, Ukraine is an immature democracy and “strategically” irrelevant to the United States. No sane person would therefore risk a war with the Russian nuclear power. Rather, Washington should strive for a rapprochement with Moscow in order to jointly oppose China.
While the Republican establishment maintains a hard line on Russia, Carlson’s criticism strikes a chord with at least part of the party base. Above all, MPs close to Trump and candidates for the congressional elections in November are questioning the US’s commitment to Ukraine. While still a tight Majority of 54 percent of Americans have a tough stance on Moscow advocates, only 34 percent are in favor of protecting Ukraine with military force.
Bad jokes instead of guns
In other words, the war-weary American people are willing to support Ukraine as long as the price is not too high. The cheapest way for Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin to be deterred was for NATO partners to act as one. But this is precisely where the German government, a key member of the transatlantic alliance, is not really involved. Berlin is stepping on the brakes on possible economic sanctions, a cessation of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline and arms deliveries.
The German government has not even allowed Estonia to to hand over old artillery pieces from GDR stocks to the Ukraine. Instead, Berlin Kiev promised the delivery of 5,000 protective helmets, which is basically a bad joke.
Concerned about the Western alliance’s lack of unity, CIA Director William Burns raised the issue on a recent visit to Berlin. As the “Washington Post” Based on reports from American officials, Burns tried to encourage his German partners to take a tougher stance on Moscow. Burns sent Berlin a specific message from the White House: “We need solidarity now.”
American President Joe Biden is likely to try to convince Chancellor Olaf Scholz of this on Monday when he receives him in the Oval Office. For Biden, there is not only a lot at stake in the Ukraine question in terms of foreign policy. While his predecessor Trump declared NATO “obsolete”, even toyed with the idea of leaving and instigating a trade war with Europe, Biden’s declared goal was to strengthen the transatlantic alliance again and, in particular, to regain the trust he had lost in Germany.
Limited effect charm offensive
In order to appease Berlin, Biden suspended sanctions against the company operating Nord Stream 2 under Trump last year, without clear concessions from the German government. The return to the Paris climate agreement and the generally more conciliatory tones from Washington also improved the USA’s reputation in Germany. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, over 70 percent of Germans rate relations with the United States as good, and only around 24 percent consider them bad. In Trump’s day, it was the exact opposite. In addition, Germans and Americans increasingly regard their bilateral relations as more important than their countries’ relationship with China.
Politically, however, Biden has so far only been able to reap the fruits of his charm offensive to a limited extent. The American desire for a tougher stance on China Scholz is also skeptical about it, even if his government promises a tougher course towards Beijing in the coalition agreement. Above all, the conflict over Ukraine would be a good opportunity to demonstrate to isolationist circles in the US how valuable the transatlantic alliance can still be for Washington. Instead, Berlin’s reluctance to date has confirmed Trump’s particularly clear accusation that Germany is a security policy free rider.
At the same time, Biden is now also being criticized by Trump for having made such a weak figure with the lifting of sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that Putin has lost all respect for the United States. This is another reason why Biden needs foreign policy success in Ukraine with the help of German solidarity.