Trump is ‘unpredictable’ but his ‘desire to win’ can seal Ukraine peace deal, says ex-Nato chief

Former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that US President-elect Donald Trump’s “unpredictability” may be the key to peace in Ukraine.

Trump’s victory has rattled Europe as he has been a persistent critic of NATO and the alliance with Europe. He is also skeptic of aid to Ukraine in the war with Russia and has said for over a year that he would strike a deal to end the war soon after taking office.

As the Russian invasion of Europe has plunged Europe into the worst security crisis since the World War II, Trump serving Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin by cutting aid to Ukraine and essentially forcing its surrender would be a disaster for Europe as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

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Rasmussen told Politico that the Trump’s unpredictable personality coupled with his ego may instead be an asset.

“We could use a combination of Trump’s unpredictability with his desire to be a winner and make that a strong formula for promoting a peace process in Ukraine,” said Rasmussen, adding that he thinks Trump should “tell Putin to stop the war”.

Rasmussen said that Trump would not force Ukraine to surrender as that would make him look like a loser in Europe.

“I don’t think he would like to be depicted [as] a loser and if you force the Ukrainians to the negotiating table, you have a very, very weak hand when you start those negotiations,” said Rasmussen.

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Trump has long indicated that he would pursue an isolationist foreign policy. Instead of standing with allies and aiding Ukraine, Trump has long fawned over Putin and hailed him while slamming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has accused European members of NATO of taking the United States for a ride by not spending enough on defence.

In remarks that characterise his approach, Trump during his presidential campaign said that if allies don’t expand spending to his liking he would tell Russia
to do whatever they want" with them, saying that he would endorse Russian attacks on allies.

Recalling a conversation with an unnamed leader of an allied country, who he said presented a hypothetical scenario in which the country was not spending to his liking within Nato and had been attacked by Russia, Trump said, “I said: ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent? No I would not protect you, in fact I would encourage them to do whatever they want. You gotta pay’.”