Trump may not see real U.S. national security interests in Europe — former Pentagon official

Jan Brzezinski, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Affairs, said this in an interview with Antin Borkovskyi, host of the Studio West program on Espreso TV channel.

“To understand President Trump's approach to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, you need to step back and ask what he considers to be America’s vital interests in Europe.

I don't believe he sees the continent as holding vital U.S. security interests,” he said.

 According to the expert, Trump sees Europe primarily as a market for American goods and services, as well as a center of economic competition, particularly from the European Union.

"In his view, European countries have long enjoyed American security guarantees without taking sufficient responsibility for their own defense. He does not see Europe as a community committed to collective security. When he looks across the Atlantic, he seems to be more interested in the prospect of normalizing relations with Russia than in strengthening what many consider to be fundamental transatlantic interests," Brzezinski said.

He added that he does not share this view, but in his opinion, it is the one that underlies Trump's thinking.

"When he looks at Ukraine, he does not see vital U.S. interests there. He is convinced that the Europeans are not making enough efforts to support Ukraine, and he is unlikely to go further than his allies in Europe are willing to go," the expert concluded.