If Kyiv were a story
But who on earth could have imagined such a dialogue,
Fictional essay or reality?
A Europe in panic over Trump: chronicle of an admitted dependency
December 31, 2025
Europe claims it no longer believes in Donald Trump. It fears him, suspects him, criticizes him in hushed tones — and yet it keeps circling him like a frantic satellite around its center of gravity. The latest revelations are not merely embarrassing; they are damning.
According to several converging sources, European leaders — with German Chancellor Merz at the forefront — reportedly warned Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of his visit to Florida. Not about a Russian diplomatic trap. Not about military escalation. No. About Trump himself.
“Don’t go too far. Be careful. It’s important that the meeting goes well… but that’s not guaranteed.”
In other words: be careful not to upset the master.
And so it would fall to the Ukrainian president — the leader of a country at war — to manage the psychology of a former U.S. president in order to preserve Europe’s equilibrium.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen drives the point home, in an almost pleading tone:
“Volodymyr, be careful. For your sake and for Europe’s.”
The scene is striking. The European Union — a supposed economic power, a continental market of 450 million people — implicitly delegates its strategic fate to a foreign leader’s ability to “pull off” a one-on-one meeting with Donald Trump. This is a far cry from “European sovereignty.” This is supplication.
This moment of truth reveals a deeper fear: the fear that a peace with Russia — imperfect, transactional, brutally realistic — could be made without Europe, or even against its moral vision of the conflict. A peace that would end Brussels’ political centrality in the Ukrainian narrative. A peace that would force Europe to confront the limits of its strategic idealism.
And while anxiety circulates behind the scenes, official communication continues to float above reality. Ursula von der Leyen thus welcomed “progress” following a meeting with Trump… which she did not attend. Commentary precedes the event; narrative replaces reality.
Because in reality, nothing is moving on the key issues:
– no agreement on territories,
– no solid U.S. security guarantees,
– no clear long-term commitment.
Trump, true to himself, refuses to hand out guarantees he does not politically control. He does not want to be the eternal military guarantor of a European conflict. And that is precisely what Europe fears.
So Brussels improvises. Another emergency meeting. Another magic formula. This time, Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is presented as a “security guarantee.” A legal sleight of hand disguised as strategic vision. An institutional promise waved around to mask the absence of real protection.
NATO is replaced by the EU.
Armor by treaties.
The American umbrella by an accession file.
The nervousness is such that another meeting with Trump has already been announced for January 6, in Paris. The question is no longer rhetorical: why invite with such urgency a man whom one claims not to trust?
The answer is brutal: because Europe has no credible alternative. It has neither real military autonomy, nor a unified strategic doctrine, nor political leadership capable of assuming the consequences of an imperfect peace.
It fears Trump, but depends on him.
It criticizes him, but waits for him.
It dreads him, but invites him.
P.S. There remains the explosive question of the leaks. Kyiv? Berlin? In both cases, the signal is the same: behind official smiles and handshakes, panic is spreading. Officially, everything is fine. Unofficially, Europe is holding its breath — and praying that Trump remains predictable. In other words, it has learned nothing at all.