Failure has many fathers, but success is an orphan.
This upends the usual state of affairs, but when it comes to the Ukraine war, the Europeans have upended how affairs of state are usually run.
In February, it will be four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. The war is a brutal stalemate.
If it goes on, it could turn into a brutal Russian victory.
The firm of Witkoff, Rubio & Kushner proposed a 28-point peace plan that could secure American interests, stabilize relations with Russia and strike a new balance of power.
The plan is a triple win for the Europeans — but they’re acting like bad losers.
Under the deal, Ukraine retains its sovereignty and can join the European Union.
Russia retains the eastern areas of Ukraine, which were Russian-speaking before the war, and Crimea, which Russia has held since 2014, and its important Black Sea ports.
Ukraine won’t join NATO, and NATO won’t put troops in Ukraine.
But Ukraine will have NATO security guarantees, and its standing army will be more than double its pre-war size, making it a buffer state with benefits.
The United States will mediate a Russia-NATO dialogue to defuse NATO’s eastern front, allowing the Europeans to get back to the important business of pumping custard into breakfast pastries and working 35 hours a week.
But the Europeans would rather risk war on Putin’s terms than peace on Trump’s.
Last week, according to a transcript of a Euro-conference call leaked to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, France’s Emmanuel Macron warned that the United States will “betray” Ukraine by ceding territory without giving sufficient security guarantees.
Little Emmanuel was the first to run to Moscow and beg for Putin’s mercy back in 2022.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky to be “extremely careful.”
Witkoff, Rubio & Kushner, he said, are “playing games, both with you and us.”
Friedrich, it’s called diplomacy.
“We cannot leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys,” said Finland’s Alexander Stubb, as if he was running background checks on a babysitter.
The Euros are pacifists who want to prolong a war, warriors who have no swords, strategists who haven’t a clue — and allies who conspire and sneer at their American patron and protector when it seeks to end a war that their vanity helped to start.
Like children, the Euros expect to evade the consequences of their immaturity while stamping their feet because the adults aren’t being fair — and putting out their hands for extra allowance.
Some of the leaders on the Der Spiegel call argued that the EU, not the US, should decide how $300 billion worth of Russian assets currently frozen in European banks should be defrosted and spent in Ukraine.
That’s what their objections to Trump’s peace plan are really about.
They don’t just want a big slice when the cake is carved; they want to wield the knife and set the seating plan, too.
But it’s not their party.
In the parallel universe of the European imagination, it’s Europe that backstopped Ukraine’s defense.
In reality, Europe has split the bill with the United States for a war on Europe’s turf — with the US providing the critical weapons.
The imbalance between European dreams and reality isn’t just about money. It’s about muscle.
Europe has talked tough on Ukraine while hiding under the American security umbrella, even though they know NATO is American power by another name.
Vladimir Putin knows that too.
There is a real danger here: This is a war of attrition, a numbers game.
Russia has more men to feed into the meat grinder than Ukraine does. While Ukraine relies on foreign aid, Russia remains on a war footing.
No peace deal means more war — a war the Europeans cannot support alone, and that Ukraine cannot win.
Europe’s obstruction of Trump’s deal is a gift to Putin.
In August, Britain and France derailed American efforts to impose a ceasefire in Gaza by recognizing a Palestinian state.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio rightly called that a “reward for terror.”
The Europeans are doing the same to Trump’s Ukraine proposal.
They aim to keep a seat at the table, even if it means rewarding Putin’s aggression — but another round of war could be fatal to Ukraine.
Trump got his Gaza deal regardless. The Europeans have never been so irrelevant in the Middle East.
Now Trump is determined to get his Ukraine deal, too — and the Europeans are becoming irrelevant on their own turf.
The adults negotiated this Ukraine proposal over the Europeans’ heads.
Of course the Europeans feel humiliated; the United States and Russia are shaping Europe’s future without consulting them.
But if you act like a child, you get treated like one.
Dominic Green (@drdominicgreen) is a Wall Street Journal contributor and a fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.