By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) – US President Donald Trump’s idea of European peace keepers in Ukraine is absurd, and part of a game being played for a domestic US audience, a former Polish general said in an interview with local newspaper Gazeta.pl on Monday.
“The US, without the participation of Europe, to negotiate a peace that would be guarded by Europe and secure or insure US companies extracting rare earth metals? This really would not work,” Roman Polko said.
Trump has touted the idea of European peace keeping troops in eastern Ukraine in the event of a peace treaty with Russia.
European NATO members say they will not participate in such an undertaking without the Ukrainian side being involved in peace talks. Poland said it will not send troops into Ukraine in any form.
Poland’s president and foreign minister made hastily arranged trips to meet Trump last week, with neither receiving assurances that Ukraine would be involved in peace talks.
“My blood boils, especially when I listen to Polish statements, because we do not know the format in which this mission would take place. I appeal to Polish society: no-one, neither the French nor the British, from Europe will send their soldiers to the demarcation line between Ukraine and Russia if there is no consent from both countries,” he said.
- US policy ‘dangerous’
“Even when journalists asked what concessions Russia should make, the US side did not really answer,” the former commander of Poland’s special forces, GROM, said. “Ukraine, on the other hand, is supposed to make all the concessions, giving up territories or even issues related to punishing war criminals, because nothing was mentioned about that. In addition, there is also the issue of transferring rare metal deposits for the exploitation of the US as compensation or coverage of the costs that the US incurred while supporting Ukraine. This is not how you talk if you really want to achieve lasting peace," he said.
“The primacy was taken by the desire to freeze the war in order to achieve the effect of a fulfilled election promise. The interests of the West, including the US itself, are secondary to a lasting peace, stable Europe and an alliance of Western countries. The US cannot be alone in the international arena, and it is difficult to imagine building some common relations with a war criminal, Russia,” he added.
He said morale has been revived among Russians. "‘Look, we are a world power, Trump is talking to us.’ Except that Russia is not a power. Just look at its GDP. It has switched its economy to war mode and produces a lot of ammunition, but the economy itself is collapsing and I think that in another year, two, three and it could lead to the collapse of Russia,” Polko said.
- ‘Populist idiocy’ hides a deeper truth
The former commander said the "populist policy" of Trump and his ally, tech billionaire Elon Musk, is "short-sighted" and will not last in the long run.
On European security, however, Polko said President Trump is right. “Europe has completely neglected its security. On the one hand, it has built a powerful army of bureaucrats: all procedures are stretched, whether those related to building a common army, joint projects concerning weapons or even ammunition factories. This shows the enormous inefficiency of Europe,” he said.
“We have a strong British and French army, Poland is expanding its army, but Europe itself is too divided and these efforts are not coherent. There is a lot to catch up on so that these armies are ready to conduct operations in time of war. Hence, it is difficult to say now, especially looking at Russia, which has switched its economy to war mode, whether Europe has the ability to deter a potential aggressor,” he added.
- Russia-China relations
Asked if the US wants to break up the alliance between Russia and China, who have boasted a "no limits partnership," Polko said this “is possible, but it is only a pipe dream.”
“This alliance, or cooperation, with China is too strong to be broken. Similarly, to be honest, the US is too closely tied to Europe for these current actions to lead to any permanent split. There are too many interests connecting the US with Europe for one or the other side to give up. Similarly, there are too many differences between the US and Russia to unite and act together against China. There, too, the ties with Iran and North Korea come into play. They have gone too far for anything radical to change on this issue,” he said.