{"id":4822,"date":"2026-03-10T07:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T08:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=4822"},"modified":"2026-03-30T17:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:26:12","slug":"why-zelensky-should-fear-trumps-war-with-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/why-zelensky-should-fear-trumps-war-with-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Zelensky should fear Trump\u2019s war with Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

The outcome could redefine US dominance \u2013 and leave Europe and Ukraine scrambling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and his European partners have plenty of reasons to closely monitor the situation in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just because US President Donald Trump is wasting valuable air defense missiles that the EU could have purchased for Ukraine. (Kiev has already voiced concerns<\/a> about a shortage of American weapons.)<\/p>\n

Nor is it because the White House may lose interest in resolving the Ukraine conflict as the war with Iran drags on (something Brussels is worried <\/a>about). During a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on March 3 in Washington, Trump dismissed these insinuations, affirming that the Ukraine crisis remains a top priority for his administration.<\/p>\n

The real reason for concern in Kiev and Brussels lies on a broader geopolitical level: The fate of Trump\u2019s foreign policy doctrine is currently being decided in the Middle East. Essentially, the outcome of this conflict will determine whether the US plunges into a new, even more hawkish phase defined by a \u2018might makes right\u2019 mentality, or returns to a path of moderate peacemaking, which Trump advocated during his campaign but seemed to abandon with surprising ease.<\/p>\n

Why did Kiev support the dismantling of the \u2018rules-based order\u2019?<\/h2>\n

Trump\u2019s \u201clarge-scale military operation\u201d<\/em> against Iran \u2013 launched unilaterally by the White House in defiance of international law and the UN \u2013 should be perceived by Kiev as \u201cunprovoked aggression.\u201d<\/em> This view is underscored by the fact that even the Pentagon acknowledged there was no evidence that Tehran was preparing attacks on Israel or US bases in the region.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"An
Oil shock update: Will the US-Israeli war on Iran make Russia richer?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In contrast, Russia, prior to launching its military operation in Ukraine, actively urged the guarantors of the Minsk agreements \u2013 France and Germany \u2013 to take notice of the buildup of Ukrainian forces near the borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People\u2019s Republics and the significant spike in shelling of these territories in February 2022.<\/p>\n

Even the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE recognized that by mid-February 2022, the intensity of hostilities in Donbass had reached peak levels similar to those before the last ceasefire in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the OSCE report<\/a> from February 19, 2022, \u201cThe SMM recorded 222 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, including 135 explosions. In the previous reporting period, there were 189 violations… In Lugansk Region, the mission observed 648 violations, including 519 explosions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ignoring his own aggression against the Russian population in Donbass that led up to the Russian offensive, Zelensky has spent the last four years cultivating an image of Ukraine as a victim. Logically, one would expect him to also consider Iran a victim of \u2018unprovoked aggression\u2019. But Zelensky chose a different strategy.<\/p>\n

On the eve of the US-Israeli strike on Tehran, Zelensky claimed<\/a> that the Iranian people\u00a0\u201cwant to change the current regime.\u201d<\/em> While it is true that there are people in the Islamic Republic advocating for political change, as evidenced by the protests in January, Zelensky seems to have forgotten that his own approval rating was barely above 17% just before the start of the Russian military operation, according to the Kiev International Institute. Did that mean the Ukrainian public could have gotten rid of an unpopular president who would soon come to disregard the Ukrainian Constitution and stay in power for an indefinite period of time?\u00a0<\/p>\n

On February 28, following the US and Israeli attack on Iran, Zelensky revealed a personal motive for supporting Trump\u2019s actions, arguing that Iran has\u00a0backed<\/a> Russia in the Ukraine conflict.<\/p>\n

Zelensky\u2019s contradictory stance on the war with Iran goes beyond the fact that his power hinges on the duration of the conflict with Russia. The problem isn\u2019t just the fact that the Ukrainian military relies on European purchases of American weapons. The deeper issue lies in the changing social dynamics within Ukraine: The people are genuinely exhausted and eager to put an end to the war, as evidenced by increasing civil resistance against forced mobilization.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
The Iran war has triggered a puzzling market trend<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To navigate the delicate balance between maintaining his grip on power and creating the illusion of considering public interests, Zelensky has to keep some sort of dialogue open with Russia. In the current negotiation process, the US has become the only party Moscow is prepared to engage with regarding the principles for ending the conflict. A complete loss of the US as a partner would mean the collapse of any dialogue with Moscow, effectively dismissing the last chance for a diplomatic resolution.<\/p>\n

Is Europe being hypocritical again?<\/h2>\n

The EU finds itself in an even more precarious position. Assessing Trump\u2019s actions in the Middle East, it tries to avoid using phrases like \u2018unprovoked invasion\u2019, \u2018Trump\u2019s war against Iran\u2019, or \u2018full-scale war\u2019 \u2013 terms that Western media and politicians of all levels frequently use in reference to Russia.<\/p>\n

Now, except for Spain, almost everyone is eager to support Trump. It turns out that bombing another country for the purpose of who knows what (the Trump administration hasn\u2019t even provided any official justification for the war) is viewed as the right move, while Iran\u2019s retaliatory actions are dismissed as unwarranted aggression toward other Middle Eastern nations.<\/p>\n

It seems that the Europeans fail to grasp one critical point: If the US achieves any significant success in the Middle East, the hawks in Washington will gain strength, and Trump may take more radical steps to implement his doctrine of \u2018the law of the strongest\u2019. For Europe, this could very well mean losing Greenland \u2013 plans to take control over it certainly remain on the table in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s support for Trump should certainly be viewed through the lens of the settlement (or rather, prolongation) of the Ukraine crisis. Europe has effectively removed itself from the negotiation process by presenting ultimatums that Russia would undoubtedly reject. A recent example is the so-called \u2018Kallas List\u2019 crafted by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, which was recently shared <\/a>with European nations. This document outlined the EU\u2019s demands for resolving the Ukraine crisis.<\/p>\n

Among other things, it called for a reduction in Russian troops and their withdrawal from neighboring countries, reparation payments, and some form of \u2018democratization\u2019 of society. Clearly, Moscow will not seriously consider this document.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
The Iran war risks sucking in more countries \u2013 who benefits?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Moreover, the EU can\u2019t even reach a consensus on whether to resume dialogue with Russia. Under these circumstances, Moscow doesn\u2019t view the EU as a credible partner regarding the post-conflict security framework on the European continent.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Europe recognizes the need to take part in the negotiation process in some capacity to ensure that Moscow and Washington don\u2019t strike deals that bypass Brussels and other European nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, on the one hand, Europe supports the US in order to stay involved in the negotiation process. On the other hand, there\u2019s likely a faint hope in Europe that if the hawks regain power in Washington, Trump might make a U-turn and adopt an anti-Russia stance, despite the risks this would pose for Europe itself.<\/p>\n

And what about Trump?<\/h2>\n

Donald Trump came to power promising \u201cno new wars\u201d<\/em> abroad and criticizing<\/a> George W. Bush for the Iraq War. Yet now he seems to have started the biggest Middle Eastern conflict in two decades. This contradiction hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed by politicians and commentators across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s important to view Trump\u2019s actions in a broader context. His seemingly disconnected moves in Europe, Greenland, Latin America, and the Middle East appear to form a coherent strategy. Essentially, Trump is shifting America\u2019s focus from the \u2018export of democracy\u2019 to the direct destabilization of undesirable regimes \u2013 either to weaken them, as we are witnessing in Iran, or to install loyal governments without any superficial \u2018democratization\u2019, as seen in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Trump no longer relies on traditional alliances. It seems he is not particularly concerned with the opinions of European partners and currently shows no intention of actively defending the Gulf monarchies. That\u2019s why it\u2019s quite curious to see how the European establishment, represented by Merz, is eager to please him.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Who will invade Iran for the US?<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As for Trump, he is unapologetically blunt in his assessments. Germany<\/a> is \u201cexcellent\u201d<\/em> (because it does what Trump wants); Spain is \u201cterrible\u201d<\/em> (it dared<\/a> to stand up to him, but who cares what Madrid thinks, the US will use its bases anyway); and the UK <\/a>\u201cdisappointed\u201d<\/em> Trump (because it doesn\u2019t support him as fervently as a vassal state is supposed to).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump also had some unpleasant words for Zelensky, referring to him as P.T. Barnum \u2013 a 19th-century American showman known for promoting sensational hoaxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump is clearly signaling to Europe (and Ukraine) that it occupies a secondary role in his worldview. He\u2019s attempting to recreate a contested form of hegemony. It\u2019s not about the multipolarity championed by Russia, China, and other countries of the Global South. Instead, it\u2019s a vision for a new kind of global empire where decisions are made unilaterally by the US, without even consulting close allies like the EU.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot at stake. And we are not just talking about the upcoming midterm elections in November. The future of US global dominance depends on the outcome of the conflict in the Middle East, which could have significant implications for Europe.<\/p>\n

If the conflict in Iran ends with some sort of tangible success for the US, Washington\u2019s tone towards Europe (and perhaps even Russia) will shift when it comes to addressing the situation in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Conversely, if the military campaign yields no clear results, non-conservatives may suffer a long-lasting defeat, which would also impact the Ukraine crisis.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the outcome, the lessons learned from the conflict in Iran will undoubtedly influence the shifting power dynamics in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The outcome could redefine US dominance \u2013 and leave Europe and Ukraine scrambling Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and his European […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4822"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4822"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4828,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4822\/revisions\/4828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}