EU leaders plan to ask Zelensky to tone down his public criticism of Trump, and the case for silence rests on one admission: the criticism may be true, but it doesn't always need to be said out loud.
The European Position
Read what that official actually admitted. The criticism is accurate. The objection is that Zelensky says it where people can hear. The case for silence rests on that alone.
Europe has a real problem here. It leans on Washington for defense and intelligence support, so its leaders treat American moods as weather to be managed. Ireland's Taoiseach Micheal Martin said today that the US has had difficult moments before and good communication always repaired them. It's only a comfort if you aren't the one being bombed while the repairs go on.
Kallas Said the Quiet Part
Credit where it is due. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters that Europe's approach differs from Washington's. Pressure to end this war belongs on the aggressor, not the victim. Pressing Ukraine is the wrong approach.
That sentence is accurate, but it clashes with the plan to rely on Zelensky for his tone. You cannot say pressure belongs on Moscow while your capitals queue up to ask Kyiv to be nicer to the man pressuring Kyiv.
Ukraine has every right to speak up.
Europeans can keep kissing Trump's ass for as long as they like. Ukraine has its own approach. People are dying here every day. Silence while they die is consent, and we do not consent.
The Midterms Are the Lever
The logic is cold. Trump needs to take serious damage before the midterms. A weakened Trump has less room to help Russia over the next two years. Every public hit that lands on him now is a hit on his ability to carry Moscow's water later.
- Republicans are already flinching from him
- Fuel prices and a war he cannot end are his problems, not Kyiv's
- Pressure on him is cheapest before November
The same Europeans asking Zelensky to soften up will thank him afterward. So will the American people, who are paying for this mess at the pump.
