Mykhailo Samus, Director, New Geopolitics Research Network, Ukraine, during the online briefing “Trump the Peacemaker: How Ukraine Assesses the Efforts of the New U.S. President – and What It Means for Asia” appealed to partners in Europe, Asia, and across the world to build a new system to protect democratic values against axis of evil.

Please, find below the key messages the expert presented to opinion leaders from Asian countries:

The United States is no longer going to be a leader in NATO. This is an unbelievable signal from Washington. But at the same time, this confirms Ukraine’s assessments and proposals to our European partners about the need to start building strategic autonomy and independent European security and defense systems. This could potentially include NATO infrastructure, but should be based on European efforts to increase funding and budgeting for defense industry projects in Europe.

Do not expect that the United States will continue to be a leader to protect its allies. It doesn’t work anymore. Washington is out of the process. It will be very interesting to see what happens on next NATO summit this summer – what United States will say to European members and European allies, and how they will build a new relationship on the background of Ukrainian continuation of Ukrainian-Russian war. This is truly a disaster for the Euro-Atlantic system.

The democratic world that has been built since 1945 is being dismantled. We need to say this openly. Together with our partners in Europe, Asia, and across the world, we must build a new system to protect our democratic values against this axis of evil.

Is it better for European and Asian democracies to bring Trump and the U.S. back to long-term international commitments, or to focus on developing cooperation among themselves? A comprehensive solution should include elements of both approaches. But considering the current situation, it is better to enhance cooperation among democracies while also attempting to keep the United States engaged with its alliances. However, I am skeptical about Washington’s readiness to support its allies in the next three to four years.

My main conclusion is that all countries and nations that believe in democratic values must continue to treat them as guiding principles. For our societies, it is impossible to make deals with war criminals and murderers and then attempt to build a good and just future. We have a basic understanding of morality that underpins all of our actions.

Video recording of the online briefing is available in English on New Europe`s Youtube Channel.

The online briefing was organized by the New Europe Center (Kyiv, Ukraine) in partnership with the Prospect Foundation (Taipei, Taiwan) and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation (Kyiv, Ukraine).