European leaders say President Donald Trump’s decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is further proof that they must take care of their own security.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    6 hours ago

    Trump’s decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise

    Really though? Did it though? Did it really come as a surprise?

    I want to imagine that is their public stance and that this is not really a surprise and that they knew for years this was coming

    • Kjell@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      Have US made a decision on pulling those soldiers or is it only a tweet from Trump?

      As you say, it can’t be a surprise unless they have been hiding under a stone for years.

  • panthera_@lemmy.today
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    8 hours ago

    Yes, Europe must go it alone. It should negotiate with Putin regarding Ukraine. It should get together with Russia and China and negotiate with Iran.

      • panthera_@lemmy.today
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        7 hours ago

        No, the negotiation is between Trump and Putin. Europe should be involved. Trump should not be trusted because events in Ukraine affects Europe more than the US.

        This is what Europe should propose to Putin. Russia will withdraw from all land it seized from Ukraine after the 2022 invasion. NATO would be dissolved and replaced with a European alliance. Ukraine and Canada would be permitted to join but not the US. All sanctions against Russia will be lifted. Russia will not be required to pay reparations. If Putin doesn’t accept the proposal, the UK and France would send troops to Ukraine.

        • Osan@lemmy.world
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          3 hours ago

          Dude do you seriously think people in power would solve this like mature adults? Representative democracy encourages maintaining the status quo since that’s better for votes than the risk of changing it. Dictatorship on the other hand encourages slow drainage and exploitation of resources and displays of power that’s how you prevent coups and foreign interference and keep your position.

          In both cases it’s not the in the interest of governments to find the best solution that would benefit all parties.

          • panthera_@lemmy.today
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            3 hours ago

            Incorrect. A representative democracy must be in touch with what people want rather than keeping the status quo. The increasing popularity of far-right parties in Europe is causing centrist parties to adopt some of their policies.

        • Vergissmeinnicht@lemmy.ca
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          6 hours ago

          Europe has been attempting to negotiate with Putin before Trump ever entered the picture.

          And the negotiations between Trump and Putin are just theatrics, nothing more.

          Your proposal seems like a reasonable starting point on the face of it. But is unrealistic for several reasons.

          The UK and France don’t have the political capital to threaten war on Russia. RN and Reform would likely dramatically surge in popularity.

          Also Putin is obsessed with Novorossyia at a minimum and would interpret the threats of entry into the war as a bluff and try and call it.

          And there are a lot of boomers still in charge who can’t accept that the Europe-US alliance has become transactional and thus unreliable.

          • panthera_@lemmy.today
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            2 hours ago

            The negotiations between Trump and Putin are not just theatrics. The problem is that Putin is demanding a lot and Trump presently is not willing to go that far.

            The war in Ukraine cannot be allowed to continue forever. It is draining the economies of Europe. Europe could be facing the choice of fight now or later. It’s better to fight now while Ukraine is strong. The UK and France gave the Sudetenland to Hitler hoping it would stop his aggression. It didn’t. When Germany invaded Poland, the Uk and France declared war but did nothing. They should have attacked Germany from the west while much of Germany’s forces were in Poland. The result was that Germany later invaded France and despite considered one the world’s most powerful countries, surrendered in 6 weeks.