US and Russia: Cooperation
A fundamental policy change that is causing outrage in Europe. President Trump is making a U-turn in his policy that will go down in the history books.
Wolfgang Bittner
German companies are still moving abroad, new insolvencies are reported every day and the population is suffering more and more from high rents and food prices. Yet the government is doing nothing about it. The causes that have led to this ruinous situation are being kept quiet – at least in Germany. Apparently no one here has the courage to openly admit that the high energy prices caused by the blowing up of the Baltic Sea pipelines and the disastrous policies of Economics Minister Robert Habeck are responsible.
Now US President Donald Trump has initiated a fundamental policy change. The first thing he has done is to put some smart politicians in charge of the government, who are working with him to avert the threat of national bankruptcy in the US and return to reasonable conditions in the US and in dealings with other states, even if international law and European interests are put at risk on certain key points. The government team includes intelligent personalities such as James David (J.D.) Vance (Vice President), Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense), Tulsi Gabbard (Intelligence) and Robert Kennedy Jr. (Health), as well as the enterprising Elon Musk, responsible for government efficiency – a revelation compared to the Berlin cabinet of horrors.
Trump’s phone call with Putin
On February 13, 2025, Trump then held a clarifying phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, without consulting his European allies, who were not mentioned at all.[1] It can be assumed that Washington and Moscow alone will negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine without the EU, i.e. without the European Commission, the British, Germany and the bellicose Zelenskyi, who has led his country to its downfall according to Joseph Biden and Boris Johnson.
Bellicists such as Boris Pistorius, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Ursula von der Leyen and Olaf Scholz immediately took to the stage at the Munich Security and War Conference and reaffirmed their desire to continue the war against Russia in Ukraine, which was instigated by the Biden administration, on their own initiative. When J.D. Vance reproached them for the mendacity of the policy of recent years, their initial dismay gave way to a defiant rebellion. They want to carry on as before, even though the house of cards has collapsed.
US Vice President Vance at the Munich Security Conference
Vance said in Munich that he was not worried about a threat from Russia and China, but about “the threat from within”, namely the “retreat of Europe from some of its fundamental values”, which it shares with the United States. Shocking, he said, were the cavalier remarks of a former EU commissioner who gleefully announced that the Romanian government had just annulled an election. “He warned that if things didn’t go to plan, the same thing could happen in Germany.”[2]
Vance continued: “In the UK and across Europe, freedom of speech is, I fear, in retreat.” The previous US government had also empowered social media companies to “silence people who dared to speak what turned out to be the obvious truth”. For example, it was considered disinformation that the coronavirus may have escaped from a laboratory in China.
With regard to defense policy, Vance said that protection was of course very important, but he was deeply convinced “that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your own people”. Europe is in a crisis “that we ourselves have caused”. And mass immigration “did not come out of nowhere”, but was “the result of a series of deliberate decisions made by politicians across the continent and in other parts of the world over a period of ten years”.
Vance referred several times to the suppression of freedom of expression. He looked to Brussels, Germany, Sweden, the UK, but also to his own country, where other opinions are censored or criminalized “to supposedly protect freedom of expression”. This must change: “And just as the Biden administration desperately tried to silence people who expressed their opinions, the Trump administration will do exactly the opposite.” He had hope “that we can work together on this” and he believed that “allowing our citizens to speak out will make democracy stronger”.
Vance emphasized: “We have to do more than just talk about democratic values, we have to live them.” In this context, he criticized the organizers of the Munich Security Conference, “who have banned parliamentarians representing populist parties of both the left and the rakes from participating in these talks”. He added: “We don’t have to agree with everything people say, but when people, when political leaders, represent an important constituency, it is our duty to at least talk to them.” This also applies if “someone with an alternative point of view expresses a different opinion”, votes differently or “could win an election”. A democratic mandate cannot be achieved “if you censor your opponents or put them in prison…”
Referring to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Vance said, towards the end of his speech, that citizens do not want to be “pushed around or mercilessly ignored by their leaders”. Their homeland is important to them, their worries and concerns should not be ignored, the media shut down or elections prevented. This brought Vance back to mass immigration: “No voter on this continent has gone to the polls to open the door to millions of unvetted immigrants.” The voice of the people counts, he said, and there is “no room for firewalls”. He concluded by saying: “We should not be afraid of our people, even if they express views that do not agree with those of their leaders”
Reactions to Vance’s speech
The US Vice President’s speech caused a storm of indignation among those present. Boris Pistorius, the Minister of Defense, who seemed to be in a “war mode”, immediately spoke up. He was a “convinced transatlanticist”, he began, “a passionate transatlanticist, a great friend of America”. For this very reason, he could not leave the US Vice President’s speech uncommented. Vance had questioned democracy for the whole of Europe and compared conditions in Europe with those in authoritarian regimes. That was unacceptable (prolonged applause); that was not the Europe he lived in and not the democracy he experienced in the German parliament. In this democracy, every opinion has a voice. Extremist parties could campaign “quite normally”, “just like any other party”. That is democracy. Media that “spread Russian propaganda … are not excluded just because they don’t share our wording”[3].
Pistorius qualified this: Democracy does not mean that “the loud minority is automatically right and determines the truth, and democracy must be able to defend itself against the extremists who want to destroy it”. He was “happy, grateful and proud to live in a Europe that defends this democracy and our way of living in freedom every day against its internal enemies and its external enemies.” He therefore “vigorously opposes the impression created by Vice President Vance that minorities are being suppressed or silenced in our democracy”. This part of the speech was interrupted several times by prolonged applause.
Pistorius went on to comment on Ukraine and vehemently argued that it must be ensured that Ukraine is not left alone. Lasting peace in Europe could not be achieved without a strong and free Ukraine. There would be no “lasting rules-based order” “if this aggression gains the upper hand”.
Pistorius lived up to his reputation as a bellicose when he demanded: “We must also ensure that Russia does not emerge from this war as an even greater threat than before. A fragile peace that only postpones the next war is not an option.” There is a strong consensus among NATO allies “that imperialist powers will only respond to deterrence and strength, whether in Europe or the Indo-Pacific”. That is why we must and will “negotiate from a position of strength”.
Although Trump’s statements suggest otherwise, Pistorius is still calling for the active participation of Western Europeans and Ukraine in the upcoming negotiations. Germany will remain one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, the German defense minister promises wholeheartedly, and nothing to be negotiated should be anticipated. Germany will continue to increase its defense spending, which is a long-term commitment, “even if we have to put national interests in the background”. After all, Russia continues to pose a threat. Germany will take on “more responsibility and a leading role” in Europe.
Pistorius is obviously of the opinion that Europe, and Germany in particular, must now take responsibility for the monstrosities left behind by the Biden administration. Instead of seizing the opportunity to finally talk about peace, he is propagating rearmament and aggression. Pistorius is keeping quiet about how this is to end and how his excessive demands and claims are to be implemented and financed, but he is not the only one in the Berlin cabinet.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has been ignoring the realities for some time, got carried away with an unbelievable statement in Munich: he spoke out in favor of declaring an emergency in Germany in order to provide Ukraine with further support: “The debt brake enshrined in the German constitution provides for exceptions for emergencies. A war in the middle of Europe is an emergency.” Scholz said he was certain that there would be a majority for this in the German Bundestag after the general election. Ukraine must definitely be included in the upcoming negotiations: “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine!” [4]
Regarding the AfD, Scholz explained that it was a party whose ranks trivialized National Socialism and its monstrous crimes. A commitment to “never again” could therefore not be reconciled with support for the AfD. Therefore, Scholz said in reference to US Vice President Vance’s speech, “we will not accept outsiders interfering in our democracy, in our elections and in the democratic formation of opinion in favor of this party. That is not proper, especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject this. We will decide for ourselves what happens to our democracy.”
Even if Scholz rightly rejects interference in internal German affairs, these are completely new tones from Berlin in the face of a lack of sovereignty. And again in Munich, Scholz could not refrain from verbally attacking Russia, completely misjudging the situation. He once again claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for the increasing escalation and globalization of the Ukraine conflict and stated: “This escalation also includes Russia’s dangerous actions against countries of the transatlantic alliance: active measures such as the sabotage of undersea cables and other infrastructure, arson attacks, disinformation, attempts to manipulate democratic elections.”
It is precisely with these unproven claims and attributions that Scholz shows himself to be a representative of a policy of aggression that he – just like Pistorius, Merz, Habeck, Baerbock and others – intends to continue without American backing. He rejects a “dictated peace”, he says, and will continue to support Ukraine “for as long as it is necessary”. This is “an enormous challenge” financially, materially and logistically. Scholz apparently has no problem at all with the squandering of the German people’s money, but even boasts about it: So far, German support for Ukraine has been “four times as high as American support in relation to economic strength”. This is “effective burden-sharing among allies and friends” and should remain so. The Germans are in a position to continue supporting Ukraine at the “current high level”. The threat from Russia must be the yardstick.
Should Scholz remain in government, the current ruinous and highly dangerous policy would therefore continue. However, the situation is likely to worsen if the former BlackRock supervisory board member Friedrich März, who wants to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, takes over the government. What is going on in Berlin is no longer comprehensible to a clear mind, and this became abundantly clear during the Munich Security Conference.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who called Donald Trump a hate preacher before the start of his first term in office, assumed in his welcoming speech, interspersed with passages in English, that Vladimir Putin would “tear the European security order to shreds” on February 22, 2022. He called for a strong NATO and increased armament to counter “growing threats”, which he believes emanate from Russia[5].
“In any scenario”, Steinmeier said, ‘our support for Ukraine must continue, that of the Europeans, but also that of the Americans’. However, the new American administration “has a different world view to ours, one that takes no account of established rules, established partnerships and trust”. This had to be dealt with, but it was “not in the interests of the international community for this world view to become the sole dominant paradigm”. A lack of rules should “not become the model for a new world order”. Steinmeier referred to the Charter of the United Nations, deliberately overlooking the fact that the so-called Western values have disregarded this Charter for years. Finally, he called for “the self-assertion of democracy” and for Europe “as a global power”.
The turnaround
It looks like a real political turnaround has begun, but the responsible Western European politicians and media representatives have not yet understood this. Trump said of his conversation with Putin, which was “long and productive”: “We agreed to work very closely together and also to visit each other’s nations.”[6]
After the Western Europeans, above all Germany, have behaved hostile towards Trump and belligerent towards Russia, such cooperation between the two superpowers will have serious consequences for them. If one dares to make a prediction, they will remain in the shadow of a future policy of understanding, and the victims will, as before, be the deceived people.
German politicians such as Pistorius, Scholz and the constantly interfering Frank-Walter Steinmeier are not aware of the embarrassment of their appearances. The Vice President of the US reproached them for what is being covered up and suppressed in their own country, but this only elicited evasions and helpless talk. Defiance too, and it is to be hoped that there will be no rash aggressive actions that would lead to a European war.
It now remains to be seen how the autocrat Trump will proceed. It cannot be ignored that he is considering rigorous measures contrary to international law, for example punishing the BRICS states and annexing Canada, Greenland and Panama[7]. He also intends to introduce high import tariffs and is demanding that the European NATO states increase their defense spending to five percent of gross domestic product, which would not be possible without significant cuts to the budgets for social welfare, education, science, etc. Despite everything, however, it should be noted that the extra-parliamentary opposition in Germany in particular, whose criticism of the Berlin policy is reflected in Vance’s speech, has been strengthened.
The writer and publicist Dr. Wolfgang Bittner is the author of numerous books, including “Die Eroberung Europas durch die USA” and “Der neue West-Ost-Konflikt”. His book “Niemand soll hungern, ohne zu frieren” was recently published by zeitgeist.
Sources
[2] Zit. wie www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cdDS6IH-mE (BR Lifestream ab Min. 1:19)
[3] Zit. wie www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cdDS6IH-mE (BR-Lifestream ab Min. 3:14)
[4] Zit. wie www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cdDS6IH-mE (BR-Lifestream ab Min. 3:17)
[5] Zit. wie www.youtube.com/live/q2laq9YhW9I
[7] Vgl. www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/groenland-daenemark-unabhaengigkeit-usa-trump-100.html
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