The recent discussion between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump is the right way out, even if it marks a defeat for Europeans who made fools of themselves over the Ukrainian issue, investigative journalist Jacques-Marie Bourget told Sputnik Africa.
"Europe's defeat is that the prospect of an alliance with Russia, which would have been historically logical and fantastic, is now dead. It is an appalling economic, human, and cultural mess," he said.
Ukraine will now become a secondary problem, and subsequent actions will bring "Europe to its knees," the journalist added.
Furthermore, Trump has realized that the Ukrainian conflict is not his war, and by discussing it with Vladimir Putin, the US leader is playing the card of the "realpolitik" approach and common sense, Bourget pointed out.
"Trump, in a moment of lucidity or on the advice of people who still see clearly, said that this war belonged to Biden and his predecessors, particularly the Democrats, and not to him. He said, 'America First,' and that we should get out of this quagmire as soon as possible," he explained.
The US president also knows he can save money by stopping the financial aid that Ukraine is absorbing, leaving a hole in the budget, according to the speaker.
"They want to save money, they want to stop aid, etc. The financial hole that Ukraine represents is also a waste of money. Especially since some of that money ended up in tax havens," the journalist noted.
Moreover, the start of talks with Vladimir Putin indicates that Donald Trump has figured out the ineffectiveness of anti-Russian sanctions, and that his administration is thus playing a pragmatic game after conducting an economic analysis, Bourget added.
"They have realized that all the sanctions have not weakened the Russian economy, and some of them have even strengthened it, with quite interesting economic growth rates, higher than in Europe anyway," the speaker explained.
Europe, in turn, will have to "pick up the broken pieces," while Washington and Moscow will prefer a rather short-term strategy of separate and concrete agreements that are beneficial to both sides, the journalist stressed.