Panic in Paris: Europe Scrambles as Trump Moves to End the Ukraine War

The End of Another Forever War: European Leaders Panic as Peace Threatens Profits

For the last three years, the Western establishment has funnelled billions into Ukraine, fuelling what has effectively become a forever war. Not a single Western leader has seriously pursued a peace deal. Instead, under Joe Biden’s drumbeat of war, the conflict has been a lucrative venture—arms manufacturers raking in profits, politicians securing their geopolitical leverage, and taxpayers footing the bill. But now, the game is changing.

With Donald Trump back in the White House, gleefully dismantling the ‘New World Order’ one executive order at a time, he has done the unthinkable: decreed there will be peace.

It’s remarkable how these simple words – “there will be peace” – can send the entire military-industrial complex into such apoplexy. The arms dealers and their political salesmen, who spent years painting Trump as a warmonger, now find themselves in the awkward position of arguing for continued conflict. Their panic reveals a truth they’d rather keep hidden: war is profitable, peace is bad for business, and principles are negotiable when billions are at stake.

Now, Emmanuel Macron’s desperate attempt to convene an emergency meeting in Paris lays bare the real anxiety gripping Western leaders: not the prospect of peace, but the threat of being cut out of the war’s profitable finale. For eleven years, these same leaders have orchestrated continuous conflict – first by backing the Maidan coup in 2014 that plunged Ukraine and its Donbas area into civil war, then by feeding the flames until Russia crossed the border on February 22, 2022. Throughout it all, they’ve funnelled billions in public money to arms manufacturers, wrapping naked profit in the noble flags of democracy and territorial sovereignty. Not one proposed a peace deal. Not one questioned the strategy. Not one asked how many lives their profits were worth. The gravy train rolled on, its wheels greased with Ukrainian and Russian blood. Now Trump, of all people, threatens to derail their lucrative enterprise.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski openly admitted that Trump’s unpredictability is a problem for Europe. Macron’s hurried efforts to unite European leaders behind a common stance reveal the deep anxiety over being sidelined. European officials fear that Trump, rather than letting them dictate terms, will strike a deal with Russia that prioritises America’s interests over their own, it will!

Meanwhile, Zelensky, once the darling of Western summits, watches his star fade as world leaders haggle over Ukraine’s fertile black soil. And in the wings, Larry Fink’s BlackRock stands ready, their financial tractors primed to plough deep into Ukraine’s resources, transforming a nation’s tragedy into quarterly profits. The vultures didn’t even wait for the war to end before dividing the spoils – Zelensky signed away Ukraine’s economic sovereignty to BlackRock in the same week he was begging for more weapons, a grim preview of the “reconstruction” to come.

This entire war was Biden’s big push, his last hurrah for American imperialism, with the EU eagerly playing supporting actor in hopes of extending its own influence eastward. The script was familiar – wave the flag of democracy while pursuing naked economic interests. But like so many American adventures abroad, it’s failed dramatically, leaving behind a trail of destruction and debt that others will be expected to clean up.

Now, European leaders are flapping—both politically and in the polls. Enter Keir Starmer, ever the establishment’s eager butler, dashing to Paris at Macron’s beckoning lest Britain miss the last scraps from the war table. With practised gravitas, he proclaims this a “once-in-a-generation moment” for national security, pledging unwavering loyalty to whoever will take it. But strip away the diplomatic veneer, and what remains? A man desperately trying to bind Britain to an endless £3.5 billion annual commitment to Ukraine—a bottomless pit of military spending that stretches toward infinity. Meanwhile, back home, our schools crumble and pensioners huddle under blankets. But don’t dare mention domestic priorities; we’re routinely reminded it’s much colder in Ukraine, as if suffering were a competition rather than a tragedy to be ended. The true “once-in-a-generation moment” might be the chance to break this cycle, but Starmer seems determined to miss it, too focused on impressing his future masters in Washington and Brussels. His government of no vision to blind to notice the growing anger on Britain’s streets.

The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it was vital to guard against the possibility of future Russian breaches of any agreement. He said: “We need a guarantee that, if the agreement is violated, we can act, and this is a sufficient threat for the Russian Federation not to violate this guarantee.”

He also urged the US not to disengage from Ukraine, saying the best security guarantee for the country against future Russian aggression was binding US industry, business and defence capability into its future. “That is what will make Putin sit up and pay attention, and that is what’s attractive to a US president who knows how to get a good deal.” There’s a politician who can talk out of both ends at once. However, what he’s really asking for is a guarantee the ‘threat’ will always remain. A story to frighten the taxpayers while ensuring their money is well spent… on arms…

Fear of Peace: The Crumbling Narrative

For years, we’ve been told that Ukraine is the last line of defence against a rampaging Russia, poised to steamroll into Europe. And yet, a ragtag army of Ukrainian troops, with no navy and no air force, has supposedly held back the Russian military with nothing more than $200 billion in Western loans and borrowed equipment. If Russia were truly the unstoppable juggernaut NATO claims, Ukraine would have fallen long ago. Maybe Russia really is a Paper Tiger.

“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia, but to keep the very structure of society intact.” ― George Orwell

Even Forever Wars End…

What did they think was going to happen? How many Ukrainian heroes and Russian conscripts were they prepared to sacrifice on the altar of Western arms profits? How many more cities needed to be reduced to rubble before someone, somewhere said enough? Of course, BlackRock sits patiently waiting in the wings, Larry Fink having already secured his company’s role in “managing” Ukraine’s post-war economy – a vulture circling what remains of a nation’s sovereignty.

Macron’s urgency underscores the true crisis: not war, but the end of war. A peace deal means the cash flow from Western taxpayers to the arms industry slows down. It means European leaders lose their excuse for spiralling military budgets and deepening control over their citizens. It also means admitting that their entire strategy—sanctions, escalation, and unyielding hostility toward Russia—has been a catastrophic miscalculation.

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, framed the situation as a “moment of truth,” arguing that Europe must choose between the “free world” and those who oppose it. But the real question is: Who, exactly, benefits from this ongoing war? European citizens, struggling under the weight of inflation and energy crises, certainly do not. The political class, however, has every reason to keep the war machine running.

Zelensky, reading the winds of change, has played what might be his final diplomatic card—pushing for a European army. It’s a desperate gambit that speaks volumes about Ukraine’s precarious position, as the prospect of an American retreat leaves him searching for new guarantors.

The proposal would certainly keep the military-industrial complex well-fed after the American trough is withdrawn, but it faces an uphill battle against increasingly Euroskeptic electorates. These are the same politicians who can’t maintain their own social services, now dreaming of commanding a continental fighting force. Yet with Trump threatening NATO’s divorce unless members increase their payments, defense contractors are already salivating at the prospect. After all, nothing opens government purse strings quite like fear—and Europe is currently drowning in the propaganda of it.

It’s all about who gets what…

The mask finally slips with one European diplomat’s telling complaint: “Europe is going to be asked to police a deal that it had no direct hand in negotiating.”

There, in that moment of unguarded candour, we glimpse the true face of diplomatic anxiety—not a noble concern for peace, but a naked fear of being excluded from the carve-up. And what a carve-up it promises to be, with Trump reportedly eyeing “50% control of Ukraine’s rare minerals.” So much for defending democracy and national borders; this is beginning to look more like a multinational corporate raid dressed in diplomatic garb. Yes, the gas might flow again to Europe’s homes, but don’t expect your energy bills to shrink—there are too many hands reaching for too many pockets. The only thing trickling down in this new arrangement will be the costs, never the benefits, if you thought the war was expensive wait till they give you the receipt for the peace.

The Endgame

The endgame was clear to see. European leaders went into Saturday’s session of the Munich conference already reeling from the confrontational speech on Friday by the US vice-president, JD Vance, in which he scolded them for ignoring popular concerns over immigration and accused them of suppressing free speech.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, characterised Vance as “trying to pick a fight” with Europe, home to some of the US’s closest allies.

The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, responded on social media, saying: “Europe urgently needs its own plan of action concerning Ukraine and our security, or else other global players will decide about our future. Not necessarily in line with our own interest … This plan must be prepared now. There’s no time to lose.”

In the style of the no-nonsense new Trump administration Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, bluntly dismissed European complaints about being excluded from negotiations, telling them to “get into the debate” by ramping up defence spending rather than whining about not having a seat at the table. Europe’s worst fear isn’t Russian aggression—it’s American disengagement. They worry that Trump will strike a deal, declare victory, and leave them to clean up the mess.

European leaders now face a stark choice: accept peace on terms they don’t dictate or scramble to prolong a war they can’t win. Their fear is not of Russian tanks rolling into Berlin but of Trump shutting off the money tap and forcing them to face the consequences of their failed enterprise.

The truth is, none of these leaders expected peace to break out. They’ve built their political careers on perpetual crisis and endless military spending. Now that Trump’s administration has different priorities, Europe’s political class is realising their gravy train might have reached its final station. Their scramble to maintain relevance would be amusing if it hadn’t cost so many lives and so much public money.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Trump, the supposed warmonger, might end this forever war while Europe’s “liberal elite” fight to keep it going. The hypocrisy of the post-war order has finally come full circle.

Paul Knaggs