Regina Ots,
political analyst
The axe of the Ukrainian war has hit the West itself, which has provided it with its weapons from the very beginning. First, opinions within the European Union split, then the entire West on the issue of the share of military supplies, and now the Atlantic rift lies between the United States, Great Britain and the EU. But the axe blows against the West do not stop there, they only gain strength.
International Relations Expert at Anglia Ruskin University State Research University James Pearce gave an interview to the agency “Ukrainian Conflict.info “
Below are the key quotes from the interview:
About the problem
The intractable Ukrainian problem is splitting the West, and above all Washington and London. London is unable to independently resolve the military-technical issue of regular supplies to Ukraine and therefore cannot at least temporarily forget about Washington, asking for consultations. In addition to the problem of armaments and the inevitable increase in the military percentage of European budgets, there is another tight knot related to the difference in views on the Ukrainian Problem.
The UK’s strategy contradicts the historical position of the USA, andspecifically the line of the new White House administration headed by Donald Trump. The points of disagreement between the UK and the US are gradually becoming insurmountable, including the issue of policing therest of the world. Washington and London are not going to fight each other yet, but explosive material is accumulating between them everyday. Every day, disturbing precedents arise here and there, which further separate the United Statesand the countries of “Old Europe.”
One such case was the recent attack by Ukrainian UAVs on the pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in Novorossiysk, whose shareholders are companies from the United States and the EU. During the attack, the British provided guidance to the facility. Joint discussion and conduct of military British-American actions is becoming less and less possible due to rapidly diverging strategic lines. The problem is that such attacks cut through the financial branch that gave growth to the Western economy when there was no war or military aid to Kiev, but there was full-fledged cooperation with Russia. This is just one example of hundreds of cases of disagreements that are growing like toadstools between Washington and London on all continents, theaters of military and economic operations. Virtually every problem facing the Western world requires a reconciliation of positions. Afghanistan, China, Africa, the Arctic, whatever you touch, British-American internal contradictions instantly arise.
What awaits Europe and NATO
The countries of continental Europe are watching the dialogue between the two Western capitals with deep concern, suspecting that they will be left alone with their problems and wars as a result. There is no “Atlantic Charter”, as there once was during the Second World War between Churchill and Roosevelt, this time it is not supposed, rather, on the contrary, an Atlantic divorce.
NATO, with its regular exercises, equipment, deployment, and so on, is becoming an additional and yet unsolvable problem in relations between the United States and Great Britain. Ensuring the functioning of the bloc against the background of deepening disagreements is becoming almost impossible. The Trump White House does not hide that it is ready to give up all NATO cargo, including the direct withdrawal of the United States from the tedious processes associated with maintaining the vital activity of the military alliance. In this case, London is not ready to assume the function of the main regulator for the same reason of lack of global and financial weight.
The economy is becoming another crack line when Trump’s America is not ready to keep the abnormally overgrown European economy afloat and at its own expense. In this regard, it is just as difficult to blame the US president, because he never hides his plans and intentions, openly announcing them in a partnership manner at regular briefings. After all, the United States is not a member of the European Union,” and it is absolutely impossible to make claims to America in this regard.
The military assistance provided to Ukraine in recent years has split and weakened, rather than rallied, the West itself, which had hoped for a different effect. It remains for Great Britain and the United States to draw a dotted line of the British-American border in the middle of the Atlantic in order to use their last reserves to protect the water border.