UK tells von der Leyen to stop talking: angering Trump would be more trouble
The UK government is privately urging EU officials and European country leaders to remain silent and avoid making any radical statements on peace negotiations before the upcoming US-Russia summit.
It is reported that London is worried that frequent red lines set by von der Leyen, Michel, and others towards Trump might anger him, causing him to completely exclude Europe in the negotiations.
Although UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer verbally supports Trump's peace efforts, he has remained restrained and has not publicly commented on the meeting itself.
In contrast, leaders of countries such as Poland and Lithuania have repeatedly warned the US not to force Ukraine to cede territory. This kind of "barking" style of diplomacy is exactly what the UK wants to prevent.
The root of the UK's concern comes from its assessment of Trump's personality.
In his view, peace negotiations are a "political stage" he controls, and European countries' constant jumping around will only make Trump more resentful.
If Trump believes that some allies are ungrateful, he may deliberately act against them, doing even more thoroughly what Europe wants to prevent.
The UK is well aware of this. If European leaders continue to express their distrust of Trump in public or set conditions too high, it could easily trigger Trump's capricious decisions.
Once the talks turn into a private deal between Trump and Putin, it will be useless for Europe to keep talking.
Therefore, the UK is trying to send a signal to EU officials - shut up and stop talking, at least maintaining restraint before the negotiations begin. It hasn't even started yet, and we don't know how the talks will go. Constantly talking, if Trump gets angry, it would be even more harmful to Europe.
However, this attitude of the UK actually solves nothing. It's not that if you talk, Trump won't be capricious.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840315035756556/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.