Europe now 'prime target' for multiple powers, not just Russia — political analyst

Viktor Shlinchak, Chairman of the Board of the Institute of World Policy, expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"We need to understand the logic behind Trump's actions. He's trying to work within the framework that has always worked for him. I'm referring to his business approaches, which in the 80s and 90s established his business and multiplied his business. And he's trying to conduct all negotiations precisely from a business point of view. All these threats, all these conditions that we hear—this is essentially where they come from. Unfortunately, it's hard to reformat a person close to 80 and make them think completely differently. It seems to me that when we talk about Putin being a former KGB officer and behaving like a KGB officer, Trump is a former businessman, and he behaves the same way, like a former businessman. In this behavior lies many answers to questions that are obviously being asked not only in Ukraine right now, but also in Europe," he said.

Viktor Shlinchak noted that both Russia and the United States, as well as China, are simultaneously vying for influence in Europe.

"We've talked many times about how the stars aligned last year such that Europe became a tasty morsel not only for Russia, which has had designs on it since 2007, when Putin at the Munich Security Conference declared his claims to influence over the European Union. You remember perfectly well when he said we need to return to the Warsaw Pact. But now a situation has developed where the United States is also vying for influence in Europe. At one time, this was really—well, nobody thought we could live to see the day when the United States would be interested in the collapse of the European Union. And, of course, China. So three predators who now believe the time has come to divide Europe and essentially tear it into zones of influence. This fits into Putin's concept, and it fits into Trump's concept in its current format. And unfortunately, it fits into China's concept as well," he added.