Speaking in Washington on May 7, Vice President J.D. Vance reassured the many Europeans in the room that the US and Europe are “on the same civilizational team,” adding, “it’s completely ridiculous to think that you’re ever going to be able to drive a firm wedge between the United States and Europe.”
Unlike the Vice President’s comments at the Munich Security Conference in February, which left Europeans anxious, this time the audience responded with applause as he left the stage.
Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who was at the meeting, said, “we were surprised, positively. The tone has altered. J.D. Vance now considers Europe and the US to be important partners.”
To some, the Vice President’s positive tone may have come as a surprise, but his comments are part of a recent, and very important, shift in approach to Europe and Russia from US officials, including most notably President Donald Trump.
While too early to know for certain, Vance made it clear things have changed when he said the US believes the Russians “are asking for too much” in their negotiations with Ukraine. That signals the US is unlikely to accept the Kremlin’s demands, as many in Europe had feared.
The shift began at Pope Francis’ funeral in April, with the iconic image of Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy locked in discussion on gilded chairs in the middle of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Since then, the US and Ukraine have signed a critical minerals deal — the first bilateral economic agreement under the second Trump Administration. Kyiv and Washington called the deal historic, and the US side showed a strong commitment to the negotiation process. The White House underlined the broader significance of the deal, saying it “sends a strong message to Russia — the United States has skin in the game and is committed to Ukraine’s long-term success.”
Since then, there have been defense agreements with Ukraine on F-16 jets and Patriot missile systems.
Trump has grown increasingly impatient with Russia’s escalating attacks on Ukrainian civilians and Putin’s unwillingness to seriously engage in peace talks. The president’s cry of “Vladimir STOP!” was both a rebuke to Putin and a recognition of Russia’s untrustworthiness. He later told ABC that Putin wants all of Ukraine and said the Russian leader may be “tapping” him along to keep the war going.
Taken together, these remarks and actions from the US should give the Europeans and Ukrainians reasons for optimism. And perhaps more importantly, an opportunity to learn a few important lessons.
Lesson 1: If you want to have a seat at the table, you have to show up, engage, and deliver on your promises. For too long, Europe has not taken responsibility for its own defense and security. That is starting to change, but still far too slowly. If Europe wants to alter the perspectives of the US and the rest of the world, the best thing it can do is show it is a powerhouse both in terms of defense capability and economic weight.
There is a long way to go on both fronts. Complaining about the US, which seems to be the comfort zone for many Europeans, isn’t going to get much done. And the European countries that understand this and adopt a pragmatic approach, like the UK, which just negotiated a trade deal with the US, will reap the benefits. Those that disengage won’t.
Lesson 2: Take note of Ukraine’s successful negotiation with the Trump Administration on critical minerals. While many were lamenting that the first leaked version of the deal was deeply unfavorable to Ukraine, the Ukrainians understood it was the initial proposition in a business negotiation with the expectation it would be revised in the process. They took it as such and came out with a good deal.
Lesson 3: Remember recent history and give the US Administration time to shape its policy. Every US Administration since the end of the Cold War has come in with the intent of “resetting” the US-Russia relationship, but every US President, despite their best efforts, ended up with a worse relationship with Moscow. There is one very clear reason for this: There are no deals to be had with Putin, who sees US global power as the ultimate obstacle to achieving his goals in Ukraine and beyond. The Russian leader is not a man who cares about rules; he cares about power and, in the defining war he chose to wage, about victory.
Lesson 4: Recall that the current tensions in US-Europe relations are not new. During the invasion of Iraq under George W. Bush, Americans were despised in Europe. A friend recently recalled being spat on while on a business trip in Europe just for being American. And while many Europeans seemed to love Barack Obama, it was his administration that began the pivot to Asia and led the expansive, but ultimately unsuccessful, reset with Russia. Obama never formally abandoned that policy, even after Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. It took previous US administrations years to define their policies, and this White House has only had 100 days.
The US is a global power engaged on multiple fronts, including but not limited to tariff disputes, Chinese advances, the Ukraine war, fighting in the Middle East, the Iran nuclear dispute, and a widening conflict between India and Pakistan. It is always hard for an administration to find sufficient bandwidth for global affairs, but the current agenda is overwhelming. If Europeans want priority treatment, they will have to fight for it and earn it.
We must be honest that US-Europe relations have been badly bruised by recent exchanges, but a common front against Russia now appears possible.
Dr. Alina Polyakova is President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) as well as the Donald Marron Senior Fellow at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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