'Outrage against human decency' – European MPs warn Trump against appeasing Russia in new open letter
A group of European lawmakers has signed on to a letter warning U.S. President Donald Trump against pandering to Russia.
The 47 signatories include parliamentarians from countries ranging from Ireland to North Macedonia. The letter was shared with the Kyiv Independent on Nov. 23.
The statement follows on the heels of public outcry over the Trump administration's leaked 28-point peace plan, which many view as demanding Ukraine's capitulation to Russia after four years of brutal full-scale invasion by Russian forces.
"Any appeasement of Russia as the aggressor, any attempts at putting pressure on Ukraine as the victim of this aggression, is morally reprehensible and an outrage against human decency. To bow before Russia is to abandon shared values and plunge the free world into anarchy and chaos," the letter reads.
"Strong American leadership is the only hope. A cowed America can never be great again; a cowed America can never be first."
The authors go on to invoke 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan's famous policy toward the USSR: “We win, they lose.”
The authors warn Trump about the impact of a perceived Russian victory on "countries under threat of authoritarian regimes." While the letter does not specify, the most prominent example is likely Taiwan, whose independence from China is often compared to a free Ukraine.
"As you well know, Russia is waging a brutal and illegal war of unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, Europe and, by extension, the United States as leader of the free world. The goal is to seize territory in violation of international law, obliterate Ukraine’s statehood, reestablish hegemony over Europe and overthrow U.S.-led rules-based order," the letter reads.
"The world is watching what happens in Ukraine – countries under threat of authoritarian
regimes will succumb to further aggression if Russia is not defeated in Ukraine."
American politicians also recently spoke out against the Trump peace plan, with longstanding Republican Senator Mitch McConnell saying, "Rewarding Russian butchery would be disastrous to America’s interests."
The outcry has been widespread enough that Trump seemingly backpedaled on the deal, calling it "not my final offer."
The Ukrainian and American delegations, joined by European officials, are expected to convene for consultations about the plan in Switzerland "in coming days," Ukraine's negotiator, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov said on Nov. 22.
