In the recent history of relations between Europe and the United States, two dates stand out: February 24, 2022, and February 24, 2025. The first marked the return of war to Europe, which united the two main partners of the Western community against Russia. The second sealed their divorce. Battered for two decades, their alliance finally broke over Ukraine.
In 2022, for months, President Joe Biden’s team tried, in vain, to persuade its European allies that Vladimir Putin, leader of Russia, was preparing his troops to invade Ukraine. Europeans did not want to believe it. Even Ukrainians were skeptical. Russia had been waging a low-intensity war in the east of their country for eight years, after seizing Crimea in 2014. They were familiar with the Kremlin’s intimidation tactics.
On February 19, at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Kamala Harris made a final private attempt to warn Volodymyr Zelensky. Washington had evacuated its embassy in Kyiv. In reality, by then, the Ukrainian president was aware of what was coming, but just as conscious of the balance of power with Moscow. Frustrated, he finally said to Harris, “What do you want me to do? What will that give you? If I acknowledge it here in this conversation, will you impose sanctions? Close ports to Russian ships?” The vice president replied that sanctions would come later, according to journalist Bob Woodward’s account in his 2024 book War: “The punishment can only come after the crime.”
No point in resisting
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