T
wo words, which have recently emerged in transatlantic rhetoric, sum up the dilemma facing Europeans as they confront the open hostility of the president of the United States: "betrayal" and "convergence." The Europeans feel betrayed by the US, their ally for 80 years, but they do not want this divergence to lead to a complete break in relations. On the matter of Ukraine, Paris has argued there is a need to "reconverge" with the US. Every time the Kremlin has gained the upper hand over the American negotiators, Europe has tried to right the course.
The word "betrayal" is not used in public. The French presidential office even denied that Emmanuel Macron had used it, after German magazine Der Spiegel published a transcript of phone conversations held on December 1 between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European counterparts. The transcript revealed the depth of leaders' distrust of Donald Trump's team. According to Der Spiegel, the French president warned Zelensky of the risk of being betrayed by the Americans regarding territories claimed by Russia. In reality, the Europeans were the ones betrayed. Berlin would not be surprised if the Americans were behind the leak.
