Relations between Europe and the US are undoubtedly in crisis, so just holding things together as French President Emmanuel Macron did in the White House on Monday as an achievement.
He did it by praising, flattering and gentle muffling of the US president while asking questions at the oval office and holding a joint press conference. This is a book that many leaders around the world now consider more productive than a direct speech or criticism of Trump.
Macron was able to navigate what could be a ticklish day in Washington without admitting or discovering too much.
He spoke of both countries who wanted peace, and although he gently corrected one of Trump’s claims about Europe for Europe for Ukraine, he also agreed that Europe should take over more responsibility for his own safety.
But Macron made an important concession-that Trump was right to re-establish some kind of relationship with Russian Vladimir Putin.
This is in sharp opposition to the view so far in London, Paris and Berlin, which all followed the policy of isolating Putin and slaughtering the sanctions on the Russian industries and individuals.
“There is a good reason for President Trump to get involved with President Putin again,” Macron said, adding that the new administration is a “big change”.
Macron has endured the prospects of European countries like France and the UK who are willing to play a leading role in securing security in Ukraine after monitoring, perhaps in the form of air power and torso stationed from the front line.
But at the same time he emphasized the importance of the American backlog.
Macron, however, was not an obligation to comply with our meeting in the oval office. And if he sought Scintil’s criticism of the Russian president from Trump, he did not receive it either.
What he received was, at least to some extent, the voice of Europe back at the table, and he, along with other European leaders, would take some hearts.
It is clear, however, that ambitions to re -establish the kind of close relationships that Europe and the United States have had since the end of World War II have not been on the path of the road.
Because of this, Macron has been working on the idea of more strategic autonomous Europe for some time, playing with the ideas of combined European defense forces.
His sense of Europe should be adapted to the dramatic shift in the American position shared by Friedrich Merz, which will be the next chancellor of Germany.
Merz has already said he believes that under Donald Trump he is indifferent to the European fateand that the continent must be independent of the US in the sense of security.
“My absolute priority will be strengthening Europe as quickly as possible, so, step by step, we can really achieve independence from now,” Merz said.
But France, the United Kingdom and Germany must also be aware of the fact that not all European forces are so hostile to the American view of Ukraine.
The rise of the extremely right -wing nationalist party in Europe, mostly in places such as Germany where AFD was second in Sunday’s elections, suggests that many European citizens are also suspicious of Kontinent’s continuous support to Kiev.
Later this week, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who coordinated closely with his French colleague, will come to Washington to strengthen his case in Ukraine.
He, like Macron, believes that his country has a special relationship with the US that can open the door and get a fair hearing.
The problem is that Washington is currently in the form of Donald Trump in the way of transmission – pushing the agenda that leaves some space for the opinion of others.
While America has always had the ability to flexible muscle and go on a journey, Europe has not mostly been at the end of receiving. The fact that has changed is a sign of how serious this rupture has become in established federations.