Trump is whitewashing dictators

Ukrainian veteran Evgeny Dikiy in an interview to Unian, Sept. 16:

"Trump gave Putin a very clear answer: he will not fight for the Baltic states

The Zapad-2025 joint military exercises with Russia are coming to an end in Belarus. What was the overall goal of these exercises, and did Moscow and Minsk achieve their objectives? 

...These are the first exercises since the outbreak of the Great War. And it's no coincidence that this provocation in Polish airspace occurred during them. After all, this is all part of Russia's strategy to intimidate the West and undermine its unity. Essentially, the goal of these exercises is to send a signal to the West that Russia is prepared to fight not only in Ukraine, but also to attack those Eastern European countries that are already members of the EU and NATO. In other words, to pose a direct threat to them. 

The purpose of the aerial provocation during these exercises was to test how the collective West would react. Unfortunately, we must admit that at this stage, the Kremlin has gotten everything it wanted. If not more. And so far, Western democracies have failed this crash test miserably.

These aren't just the first exercises since the Great War. They are the first exercises and Russia's first serious provocation toward the West during Donald Trump's presidency. Essentially, the Kremlin's goal was to test whether NATO still exists under Trump and whether it is prepared to resist Russia. And so far, the result has been very encouraging for the Kremlin. And very unsatisfactory for Western democracies.

Many years ago, Putin liked to ask Western leaders: "Are you ready to fight for Narva?" It's an Estonian city with a large Russian-speaking population. And it's perfectly suited for a scenario like Crimea or Donbas.

He's asked this question a lot, and now he's actually asking it in a much more pointed way. Are you ready to fight for the Baltic states? Are you ready to fight for Poland? And Donald Trump gave him an absolutely clear answer: no, you're not. And that's scary...

Against this background, the arrival of military personnel from the United States to these exercises looks very symbolic, doesn’t it?

This looks very bad, and in fact, it is very bad. The fact is, this is part of Donald Trump's efforts to normalize dictators, to bring them into the civilized world, to bring them out of isolation. This is absolutely systemic in his policy. It so happens that the 47th president of a 200-year-old democracy strongly dislikes democracy and greatly favors dictatorship.   

During his first term, he simply surrounded Kim Jong-un with his attention and brought him out of isolation. In his second term, he faces far more serious challenges. Now, Vladimir Putin needs his help. Alexander Lukashenko needs his help. And he provides it to them every day.

He's already brought Putin out of isolation, moving him from the category of war criminal to that of a world-class politician. This is the real result of Donald Trump's supposed peacemaking efforts.

And recently, he's also taken to whitewashing Lukashenko. Yes, Lukashenko is supposedly making steps in response, releasing individual political prisoners. But he's only releasing them on the condition that they be taken to the West. We've already seen how Statkevich, who refused to leave Belarus, was simply taken to the same prison camp.

And in response to Lukashenko expelling political prisoners from the country, the United States has already lifted sanctions on Belavia and is planning to open an embassy. And the next step is the participation of American observers in maneuvers that are not Belarusian, but Russian, on Belarusian territory.

American officials, as guests, observed these maneuvers. The goal is to intimidate Eastern Europe. And Donald Trump is fine with it. It sounds scary, but it's true. The current US administration considers Eastern Europe a sphere of legitimate interest and influence for Russia.

How then should the West respond to these exercises?

There's no need to respond to the exercises themselves. But Russia's overall policy is a different matter. But we don't have a West willing to respond. So, I see no point in speculating on what they should do."