The beginning of peace negotiations with Russia by Donald Trump in specified a way alternatively than another way reveals his perception of global relations. It includes treating Vladimir Putin as a average actor of global relations and possible partner. Poles request to learn from this as shortly as possible, especially since Trump's presidency is more a consequence of structural changes in the planet than a cause.
Donald Trump announced the beginning of talks with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. With a direct gathering option. In a peculiar minimanifest published on social networks, the American president carefully avoided criticizing his partner from a moral or legal position. Instead, he referred to the “healthy reason” that Trump said would link him to Putin. This is simply a clear mention to the intellectual instrument of political realism. Trump made it clear to Putin that he understood his logic and utilized the same.
War break priority
Trump stressed the decisive precedence of stopping the fight, which suggests that the fast pace of reaching a frost or ending the war is more crucial to him than the nuances of Ukraine's interests. The American president spoke about the already begun "close cooperation", for which he had already "thanked" Russian leaders. The phrase “with the large benefits we will have 1 day working together” clearly suggests that the US leader has a more long-term imagination of building partnerships with Russia and utilizing them. In my opinion, in the background of this imagination are China and attempts to construct a script, so ridiculed in Poland, "the inverted Kissinger". It's a tough task, but I think Trump wants to take it.
Negotiations have been initiated by the American President, which is already a manifestation of who cares about fast arrangements. This political impatience can initially play in the favour of Vladimir Vladimirovich, unless he bids besides high, to which he tends. Then he will meet with equally fast repressives and movements hitting Russian interests, knowing the political modus operandi of the current US President. That's what Vice president James David Vance suggested, scaring the Russians in a press interview even by sending American soldiers to Dniepr. We're only at the beginning of the road, which may turn out to be a winding, bumpy road leading astray.
On the another hand, the first clear concessions to Moscow have already been made. In the negotiating squad announced by the U.S. president, there is not adequate general hawk at remainder of Keith Kellog. This is simply a major change, due to the fact that Trump has late nominated him as an authoritative envoy for Ukraine and Russia, that is, in terms of the main negotiator. He has long been the mark of criticizing Russian media portraying him as an inappropriate individual for talks, utilizing as a pretext the fact that Kellogg's daughter has been moving a foundation since 2022 providing humanitarian support to Ukraine and organizing the treatment of American volunteers fighting under the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Trump knows better
It's evidently the art of negotiation. However, I was more impressed by Thursday's "short ball" by defence secretary Pete Hegseth, who explicitly stated to NATO ministers that the European countries themselves should yet take work for Europe's security. This is an ambivalent game, because, given the launch of the negotiations on the war in Ukraine in specified a way and not otherwise, the administration of the fresh president of the United States includes Russia among European countries. It so remains a associate in European political relations and the dreams of dumping Moscow beyond their brackets will not be met.
In my opinion, it is Hegseth's words that give the long-term logic of Trump based on the consolidation of the end of American hegemony for structural reasons – the growth of unprecedentedly strong rivals specified as China, the collapse of many financial and economical pillars of dominance, the action of globalisation to the detriment of the US, towards the simplification of the manufacturing forces of their national economy. I've written a lot about it, so I'm not going to make that subject here.
It is in this structural position that the philipics of many Polish politicians, publicists, journalists about Trump, as not knowing the actual interests of the United States, are absurd. They are an example of the infantilism of our elites. The Polish Parliament or the Polish youtuber may, of course, claim that he understands the interests of the US better than their president and his colleagues, only that there is no political reason for this. And it will not happen in the long word either, due to the fact that these Polish commentators are incorrect in assessing structural conditions, and Trump is right.
The fresh president of the United States and his abroad policy are not the cause. It's a result.
Russian legitimacy
When the negotiations began, Trump appealed to what he called “The large past of Our Nations and the fact that we fought so effectively together in planet War II, remembering that Russia lost tens of millions of people and we lost so many!” – first spelling. It is simply a motion towards Moscow, which has its crucial function in European politics just as it has played (or actually played the USSR) in breaking up the 3rd German Reich, thus legitimizing the russian Union itself, including Ukraine's affiliation to it. Putin’s direct past justified the invasion of Ukraine. Trump making these Russian narratives seems to have made it clear that he is not curious in undermining the ideological legitimacy of the Russian power system.
Because the American president has besides declared his readiness to visit Russia and surely Russian diplomacy is already working on making it happen on 9 May – on the day on which the Red Square Russians with a large pump will celebrate the russian triumph over Hitler. In my opinion, this is simply a real scenario, so let us yet halt talking about Russia's isolation in Poland. The fact that Trump recognized the president of Russia as a partner for talks about the device of Ukraine, or possibly east Europe, or even as a possible constructive partner, with which we can work in the long word confirms what I have been saying and writing, contrary to the legions of Polish politicians, journalists, publicists. The Russians and its president were not "isolated in the world". They were isolated by the West, which no longer defines the world, especially as Trump's policy deconstructs the western political expression itself.
Of course, in the face of this deconstruction and the fresh requirements of Washington, European states can make complete auto-vasalisation. After all, they are led by weak administrators without imagination, not by statesmen. Although this can change in the face of Trump's policies on another levels, especially the economical one, which can undermine Europe's and its people's well-being so severely that it will stimulate resistance.
I have no uncertainty that if the negotiations between the Presidents of the United States and Russia lead to the conclusion of military action and even temporary stabilisation of the situation in the region, there will be no shortage of actors in Europe who will immediately start business as usual with Moscow. Especially as part of possible emancipation from the US. It is worth realizing that under the fresh conditions of Trump's policy, Russia may not be isolated, but the most noisy anti-Russian states, specified as Poland or the Baltic republics. The request for the minute is an immediate change in rhetoric by our diplomacy and politicians. Moral outrage, aesthetic renunciations and assessments of no 1 in the planet will be of interest.
Powerless Disgrace
Another thing, that is, juggling emotionally loaded words, is calling from “orcs”, “wild” is writing from the lower letter of the name of the atomic power, whether those popular “russian” in mouth and lyrics would seem serious politicians, publicists read only as a evidence of the childhood and powerlessness of Polish elites. The powerless weakling, the blubber, in the corner of the area of the hooligan ruling in the yard. This weak fellow felt strong muscle of a fellow powermate from across the street. And now this fellow, with his hooligan schnitzel, determines the division of the yard with an unliked hooligan. The weak 1 will cry, renounce, "how can it be with a bandit, a primitive?"... and it will only be a evidence of his weakness and misunderstanding of the realities of life.
We request to halt this crazy rhetoric for a fewer reasons. Firstly, it stimulates in the elite, but besides widely in society a paradoxical mix of fear and at the same time contempt of Russia. It's "dumb Russian savages"... I have always treated this superiority complex in our society towards the east as a mechanics to compensate for the inferiority complex towards the west. And like any complex, our superiority complex is simply a distortion in the assessment of reality
The Russians are aggressive and violent. They're besides poorer and more corrupt. They're not democrats. Their culture is authoritarian and hierarchical. They have a importantly higher percent of citizens who do not have moving water and sewage at home. It's all true. As well as the fact that the Russians have a network of satellites, civilian and military missiles, much better developed digital technology and software sector, their own, popular Facebook and X analogues. And they have this due to the fact that there are inactive excellent staff of scientists and engineers in Russia.
In Russia there are inactive branches of conventional manufacture which in Poland, seduced by the thought of "service economy" is long gone. This, by the way, has decided on the efficiency of moving their economy to war tracks.
The Russians have finally, in Poland, a completely invisible, soft power. They have a much more powerful amusement manufacture and attractive media. Even many migrants from Ukraine in Poland, most of whom now hatred Russian political leadership inactive talk Russian, and their identity and imagination are mostly shaped by books, films, music produced in Russia. We do not really know what this immigrant "paralleled societies" live for we consider ourselves so knowledgeable experts from Russia...
Russian pop culture is simply a Octoberer? Go to Vilnius, where among local unquestionable Poles it is more popular than the 1 produced on the Vistula River. Russia can be feared, but it should not be undermined, ignored.
Hysterical Politics
Secondly, our hysterical rhetoric, or even attitude, will service as a useful argument for anyone who wants to disprove Poland's position as irrational rusophobia. Thirdly, it will not favour the launch of communication channels with Moscow. Their launch and maintenance is needed "for yesterday". It is clear that Putin wants to deal with Europe with Trump. Nevertheless, we must have our own communication channels. The heads of the ruling politicians should arrive as shortly as possible, that we do not keep contact with Russia under the present conditions, not just ourselves.
I hope that the movements of the fresh US authorities will yet make our elite aware that there is no "West". Nor is there, and in my opinion, it will shortly become clear about Europe. There's Poland. Between Germany and Russia, from the US overseas. We can only trust on each other. We must be ready for a brand-new function for Washington in Europe. We must be ready to enter the railways already beaded by Viktor Orbán.
Krystian Kamiński
The author is simply a associate of the Main Board of the Confederation, he was a associate of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland for the 9th term
