Europe faces a reckoning as its Ukraine ‘victory’ illusion crashes — after spending four years living in a fantasy that Ukraine would advance, Russia would collapse, and “victory” was only one more weapons package away. That illusion is now collapsing in real time, replaced by a US ultimatum giving Volodymyr Zelensky just days to accept territorial losses. This is not a negotiation.
This is not a negotiation. It’s a political obituary.
The Mask of Morality — And the Price of Reality
What Europe portrayed as a “moral stand” has always hidden deeper decay: strategic, economic and ethical. For decades the continent preached strength while outsourcing real decisions to Washington. It promised triumph even as its industries weakened, and trumpeted democracy while backing leaders who delayed elections at the behest of Western capitals. Now the bill has come due.
The current US-backed peace push shows the cost. Washington has warned that unless Ukraine accepts the latest proposal — which includes ceding territory — US support and weapons packages will be withdrawn.
Europe, by contrast, lacks an independent military force, has no coherent long-term energy security, and faces economic instability of its own making. Instead of shaping the war — or the peace — it’s been reduced to spectator.
Illusions Shattered — What Europe Tried To Mask
- Sanctions that sank economies for nothing: The hoped-for collapse of Russia hasn’t materialised. Instead, the burden has fallen on European energy costs, inflation, and domestic hardship.
- Proxy war, not European war: From the start, Europe never led — it followed. The real actor was the US, which provided arms, strategy and the diplomatic deadlines now dictating outcomes.
- Sanctuaries turned into pawn-shops: The once-reliable status of sovereign assets as “safe” is now dead. Every central bank in the world — from Riyadh to Jakarta — watches what Europe just allowed.
- A continent unprepared for peace: With frozen Russian assets, European leaders are now scrambling to use them to fund Ukraine — a plan many warn poses legal, political and financial risks. The Wall Street Journal+1
Ukraine’s True Choice — And Europe’s Silent Collapse
Ukraine isn’t being offered a deal. It’s being handed a deadline. The clock wasn’t given to Kyiv — it was handed to Europe.
For the first time since 2022, Europe stands not only without a plan for victory, but without a real plan for peace. Its political relevance, its moral pretence, its claim to sovereignty and power — everything is unraveling.
This isn’t just the end of the Ukraine war as it was imagined. It’s the end of Europe’s fantasy of global influence. The reckoning is no longer theoretical. It has begun.
