Trump Is Putin's 'Poodle,' But Europe Has the Leverage, Timothy Ash

Trump is Putin's poodle, but Europe has leverage, Timothy Ash Melania Golembiowska

Republican leader Donald Trump said that any deal with Russia, even under the worst-case scenario, would be better than the current situation in Ukraine. With his actions, Trump shows that he is loyal to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

This opinion was expressed to Channel 24 by economist and advisor to BlueBay Asset Management Timothy Ash, who noted that Europe is meanwhile purchasing defense products from the United States. It has leverage and will find other suppliers if the Republican leader wins and changes his strategy to support Ukraine.

Putin's “Poodle” and European Leverage of Influence

According to the economist, Trump knows little about Ukraine. He demonstrates no knowledge of the annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of Donbass, or the full-scale invasion.

The Republican leader talks a lot, his statements sound impressive, but his statements lack substance.

Trump is Putin's “poodle.” He will do whatever he is told. That is the reality, Ash emphasized.

According to him, Ukraine should hope that Trump does not win the November 2024 election, as this will raise concerns about the United States' support for our country in the fight against Russian aggression.

The economist said that Trump is a sociopath and likes to be friends with autocrats. He likes it when “bad guys” want to shake his hand, for example, Kim Jong-un or Putin.

Note! Senator Chris Coons criticized Donald Trump for his statement about “good relations” with Putin. He noted that the US president should not be a person who strives to be the best friend of Putin, whom he called a war criminal.

Trump talks about supporting Ukraine, but these amounts are not 200-300 billion dollars, as he claimed. Ash noted that it was more like 75 billion euros in support.

Europe has provided Ukraine with more. The question is, if Trump wins, will he really stop supporting it? Most of the money from the US to Ukraine remains there, namely, it goes towards purchasing American weapons, the economist noted.

That is why the US “wins” from this aid and the war through arms sales to both Ukraine and Europe, which it buys because of the possible Russian threat.

The majority of members of Congress support Ukraine on a bipartisan basis. American politicians understand that Russia is a threat to Ukraine. Ash expressed doubt that the US would want to sell weapons to Russia in the future, because it is an enemy. Europe is likely to become a big market for US defense sales.

Europe has leverage and will continue to have it through arms sales. If Trump withdraws his support for Ukraine, Europe will no longer buy weapons there. The European stockpiles of US defense products they are buying now are huge. Contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars are signed annually, the economist explained.

He added that Europe should use force and tell Trump in the future that if the US does not have the same strategic interests, that is, support for Ukraine, then Europe will build its own defense procurement system and buy it from other suppliers.

By the way, Trump has repeatedly reproached the European Union for providing less assistance to Ukraine than the US. EU High Representative Josep Borrell responded to such claims and said that Europe has provided Ukraine with more than 130 billion euros in aid in the military, economic, financial and humanitarian dimensions.