Ukraine and NATO: the glass is more like half full. Here's why
High-level meetings within NATO and the EU show that the glass of expectations is half full rather than half empty:
European NATO members agreed to raise military spending by an unprecedented 5% of GDP (yes, not immediately, but still by consensus).
Trump not only did not withdraw the United States from NATO – and there was such a scenario – but he even seemed very happy with his European partners.
No final document says that Ukraine will never join the Alliance. Putin insisted on such a statement, and Trump was not against it.
On the other hand, there were no major breakthroughs with regard to Ukraine, but given the specifics of US-European relations and Europe's dependence on the United States, the results could not have been better.
For Ukraine, the most important thing now is that large-scale military production is being deployed in the EU, and its products will be supplied to Ukraine.
These industries are part of a new European security architecture that is still being created – parallel to NATO, but not critically dependent on Washington.
And Ukraine's involvement in this new architecture is simply inevitable, because it is in the interests of Europe itself.
As for diplomatic efforts, they are now facing an obvious crisis. Even Trump has recognized this. Although he will remain the main initiator of diplomatic approaches. Europeans are still only on their way to becoming a fully independent actor in the global geopolitical game.