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Monday, June 23, 2025

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https://nordictimes.com/world/political-elite-furious-as-trump-seeks-to-broker-peace/

World

Political elite furious as Trump seeks to broker peace

The war in Ukraine

Published 14 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Vladimir Putin och Donald Trump under ett möte i Moskva 2019.
4 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The US announcements that the US and Russia will negotiate peace in Ukraine, that Ukrainian NATO membership is unthinkable, and that a return to the 2014 borders is unrealistic have sent establishment politicians on both sides of the Atlantic into a rage.

“Surrender and betrayal”, thunders Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, arguing that the announcement “amounts to abandoning Ukraine, and undercutting the security of our European allies”.

His colleague from California, Adam Schiff, is equally outraged, complaining that Trump “called our enemy, Russia, before calling our ally, Ukraine”.

“Let’s not mince words about what this represents: a surrender of Ukraine’s interests and our own, even before negotiations begin. Trump’s a great dealmaker all right – for the Kremlin”, he claims.

“A dark day”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expresses his disappointment that there will not be a “just peace” and says that “Ukraine, Europe and the United States should work on this together”.

Estonian politician Marko Mihkelson goes even further, claiming that “today might go down in history as a dark day for Europe”, demanding that EU leaders act immediately and “take our fate into our own hands”.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is also not happy with the US announcement that a return to Ukrainian borders before 2014 is unrealistic.

– It would have been better to talk about Ukraine’s possible NATO membership or the country’s possible loss of territory at the negotiating table, he says.

“Invitation to despots and tyrants”

The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas also condemns the US efforts, saying that “Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are unconditional”.

Seven European countries, together with the European Commission, are also calling for Ukraine and the EU to be given seats at the negotiating table, while France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, says the US action opens the door to dictatorship and tyranny.

– Abandoning Ukraine would be a definitive recognition of the right of the strongest. It would be an invitation to all despots and tyrants around the world to invade their neighbors with total impunity.

“Our line is firm”

Sweden’s Defense Minister Pål Jonson (M) also reacted strongly, saying that despite the US announcement, Ukraine may well become a NATO member in the future.

– Hegseth said that NATO membership cannot be part of this political peace agreement. Then there is (another) agreement from (the previous NATO summit in) Washington that says that Ukraine’s future is in NATO, but of course it must first meet the political requirements for membership.

The Swedish minister goes on to say that only Ukraine can decide whether or not to give up territory to Russia, and states that Sweden and other European allies remain committed to the country’s “territorial integrity”.

– Let’s have some ice in our stomachs now. Our line is firm, he urges.

“A day of triumph for Putin”

On the editorial pages of several Swedish establishment media, there is almost a mood of doom. Svenska Dagbladet’s Olof Ehrenkrona, for example, believes that “Donald Trump’s United States is actively undermining Europe’s security”.

“No decent and lasting peace is likely as long as Putin is in charge in the Kremlin”, he states, calling the US announcement a “day of triumph” for Putin.

“He (Putin) is fooling the great negotiator who now appears to be a weakling and a loser”, he adds.

Meanwhile, Trump supporters and others who have long called for increased peace efforts in Ukraine note that EU leaders and the former Biden administration have had three full years to bring peace to the country – but that they have not been interested in any such efforts or made any major efforts to end the war.

Instead, the focus has been on raising tensions and escalating the conflict further – partly by sending advanced weapons systems to Ukraine that can strike targets inside Russia – but also by claiming in various statements that Europe or NATO could soon be at full-scale war with Russia.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/world/ritter-the-maga-movement-is-dead/

World

Ritter: The MAGA movement is dead

Donald Trump's USA

Published today 11:23
– By Editorial Staff
Scott Ritter says it is clear that Trump is putting Israel's interests first.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Former UN weapons inspector and Marine Corps officer Scott Ritter condemns Donald Trump’s decision to drag the US into a new war in the Middle East.

On social media, Ritter asserts that Trump has not only broken his own promises of peace, but also dragged the entire MAGA movement down with him.

“MAGA is officially dead as a movement”, Ritter writes, arguing that by wearing his trademark red MAGA cap while allowing the US to enter yet another war, Trump has stripped the movement of all meaningful content and turned it into an empty symbol.

“When a President wears a MAGA hat while conspiring to take America to war after promising that, as the leader of MAGA, he would pursue peace, MAGA stands for nothing”, Ritter concludes.

Ritter, who became known for his fearless stance during the UN weapons inspections in Iraq in the 1990s, is now directing his message directly to Trump’s voters. He urges them to openly distance themselves from the president and those who stand by him, whom he believes are pursuing a dangerous agenda that has nothing to do with the original ideas of MAGA.

“If you’re MAGA, then you must disassociate yourself from this President and everyone who stands with him. They are not MAGA. They are Israel first. And that’s the most dangerous ideology facing America today”, he writes.

“A national disgrace”

The former UN inspector dismisses Trump’s bombing of Iran as a pointless and pathetic attempt to save face after talking himself into a corner.

“An act of theater. Trump’s big mouth had boxed him into a corner. Iran wouldn’t play his game. So he had to bomb Iran to save face”.

The action itself, Ritter argues, was as ineffective as it was cynical.

“He bombed two empty facilities that had been previously struck by Israel. And he bounced six bombs off an indestructible facility (Firdos), claiming destruction despite the opposite being the case. That’s it. A ‘contained’ strike. A nothing burger”.

The outspoken commentator concludes his criticism by describing Trump as a leader unworthy of both his office and the trust of his voters.

“And this is the man whose supporters call the greatest leader in the world. He’s a national disgrace”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/analysis/trumps-ambition-to-end-forever-wars-appears-at-a-standstill/

Analysis

Trump’s ambition to end forever wars appears at a standstill

The escalation in the Middle East

Jenny Piper

The US "anti-war" president, recently recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize, can forget that thought after last night's war of aggression.

Published yesterday 22:18
– By Jenny Piper
Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have long been close - a friendship that looks to have cost him the "America First" election promise.
3 minute read

It is ironic that yesterday the Pakistani government formally recommended US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, citing his mediation efforts to end the latest military conflict between Islamabad and New Delhi. Considering that Trump ordered attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan just a few hours later, he can definitely forget about receiving that award. That said, Obama did receive the Peace Prize despite the increase in US military interventions around the world during his time in the White House, so anything is possible.

Trump thus did the dirty work for Israel, which started the problem, and the US will take the blame for the consequences. Smart.

After the attacks, Trump warned Iran that if they do not make peace, more and harsher attacks will follow. Iran, for its part, has already announced that it will not bow down.

Trump has been criticized for his decision to actively enter the war by other US congressmen, some of whom say that the attacks on Iran are grounds for impeaching Trump.

Iran has accused the US of violating international law and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) with its nighttime attacks on important nuclear facilities, while assuring the public that no radioactive contamination has been detected at the sites attacked.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has condemned the US air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities as a serious violation of international law and writes on X that Tehran reserves all options to respond in accordance with its right to self-defense.

“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior. The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations. In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people”.

Iran is now demanding that the UN Security Council hold an emergency meeting, but everyone already knows that this is just a show, as both the US and Israel have carte blanche in this toothless organization.

At the same time, other forces may wake up when third parties allied with Iran want to get involved. Although major powers such as Russia, North Korea, and China, together with neighboring countries in the Middle East, have so far taken a wait-and-see position because Iran has not wanted support, a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthis has already warned that if the US gets involved, the group will attack their warships in the Red Sea.

Another unpleasant thought is the many dormant “cells” around the world that may now be activated, with consequences for ordinary people as well. So all those who are now praising Trump’s “bravery” may find themselves eating their words if they start thinking more long term.

Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeast Norway, sums it up well in a post on X, where he stated that US President Donald Trump has once again dragged the country into a conflict in the Middle East.

“Bush ran on a peace platform against nation-building, Obama promised ‘change’, Biden would ‘bring the adults back’, and Trump would get the US out of the forever wars in the Middle East. They all started wars… It does not matter who you vote for, when they do not work for you”.

But there is at least one winner here: the arms industry, whose shares will once again rise when the stock market opens.

 

Jenny Piper

All Jenny Piper's articles can be found on her blog.

https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-voters-oppose-us-involvement-in-israels-war/

World

Trump voters oppose US involvement in Israel’s war

Donald Trump's USA

Published 19 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Many Trump voters were attracted by his promises to avoid expensive and unnecessary wars.
3 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

A majority of Donald Trump’s supporters oppose US military intervention in Israel’s war against Iran. This is according to a new opinion poll published on Wednesday.

According to the comprehensive survey by The Economist/YouGov, conducted over the weekend, 53 percent of voters who supported Trump in the 2024 presidential election want the US to stay out of Israel’s attacks.

Only 19 percent of Trump’s supporters advocate US military intervention, while 63 percent prefer the administration to try to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program.

Among all voters in the survey, 60 percent believed that the US should refrain from using military force in the conflict.

The results reflect long-standing public support for peaceful solutions to the Iran issue. An April poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs-Ipsos showed that eight in ten Americans preferred diplomacy or tougher economic sanctions to military action to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

And even if diplomacy or sanctions were to fail, many Americans prefer other methods. The same Ipsos poll showed that 60 percent could envisage US cyberattacks against Iranian systems, but only 48 percent of Americans supported air strikes against nuclear facilities.

“A terrible mistake”

Opposition to military escalation is also evident among several Republican politicians.

“This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution“, Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, wrote on X earlier this week. He expressed his support for an attempt to gather support in the House of Representatives for a bipartisan resolution to limit the president’s war powers.

Libertarian Senator Rand Paul is also a very vocal opponent of dragging the US into yet another unnecessary war.

– I will not vote to send american kids to Iran. I think its a terrible mistake, every way is not our war. Our country is bankrupting itself over our own obligations to our own people. We should not ever send one soldier to Iran and I hope I am pretty clear on that, he recently declared in an interview.

Tim Burchett, Republican congressman from Tennessee, told CNN on Wednesday that he wanted to see “very little” US involvement in the escalating conflict.

– We don’t need another endless war in the Middle East. Old men make decisions and young men die, and that’s the history of war, he said.

– We need to take a deep breath and slow down this thing and let the Israelis do their thing. We do not need a three-front war in our lifetime.

At the same time, powerful neoconservative actors and the Israel lobby are waging an intense campaign to get the Trump administration to drag the US into the war – despite popular opposition and the president’s earlier promises to be a “peacemaker” and end all wars.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/trump-g7-could-become-g9-with-russia-and-china/

World

Trump: G7 could become G9 with Russia and China

Donald Trump's USA

Published 17 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump during a meeting in Moscow in 2019.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

US President Donald Trump has opened the door for Russia, and possibly China, to be included in the G7. At the same time, he criticizes the decision to exclude Russia in 2014 and argues that the war in Ukraine would never have broken out if Russia had not been isolated.

The announcement came during the G7 summit in Canada, where Trump is also preparing for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The president told reporters that he could envisage expanding the group from G7 to G8, or even G9, with Russia and China joining the current group consisting of France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany, and the US.

– They threw Russia out, which I claimed was a big mistake, even though I wasn’t involved in politics at the time, Trump said.

– I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago.

“Was very insulted”

Trump emphasized that dialogue with leaders such as Vladimir Putin is crucial to ending the war in Ukraine.

– Putin speaks to me. He doesn’t speak to anyone else. He doesn’t want to talk because he was very insulted when he was thrown out of the G8, as I would be, as you would be, just like anybody would be.

When a reporter asked if China should be invited to the G7, Trump replied:

– It’s not a bad idea. I don’t mind if anyone wants to see China come in.”

Formerly known as the G8

Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday to discuss how to end the war.

In addition to Ukraine, the G7 leaders will also discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran, with a focus on Tehran’s nuclear program. At the same time, Trump’s trade policy, including high tariffs on several countries, has created tensions within the group.

However, the host country’s Prime Minister Mark Carney emphasized the role of the US, saying that “the G7 is nothing without American leadership”.

The G7, which has held annual summits since the 1970s, was called the G8 when Russia was a member between 1997 and 2014.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

N

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