Diplomacy \u2014 and the question of how to end the war in Ukraine \u2014 is back on the international agenda. But without security guarantees that are enforceable and verifiable, any ceasefire will be little more than a pause before Russia resumes its assault. Europe has seen this before: paper cannot stop tanks.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s new National Security Strategy underscores a reality Europe has long avoided confronting. Washington increasingly views Europe as a continent in decline \u2014 a soft, exposed flank in a harsher geopolitical landscape. The initial U.S. \u201c28-point plan\u201d, drafted without consulting Brussels or Kyiv, made this brutally clear. In an age defined by hard power, when others design Europe\u2019s security, they do so according to their interests, not ours.<\/p>\n
This vulnerability is sharpened by Europe\u2019s changing place in America\u2019s political imagination. The assumption that transatlantic politics will eventually revert to a familiar \u201cnormal\u201d is no longer credible \u2014 and waiting for it would be strategically reckless.<\/p>\n
And the challenge stretches far beyond Washington.<\/p>\n
Europe now finds itself in a strongman world<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 confronted by a resurgent Russia, pressured by an assertive China, and partnered with an America that openly questions \u201cthe activities of the European Union.\u201d A continent pulled into U.S. ideological battles, squeezed by Beijing and coerced by Moscow cannot outsource its security to anyone else.<\/p>\n And for the defining European security issue of our time \u2014 Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine \u2014 Europe must finally play its full role. The alternative is simple and dangerous: others will shape the outcome for us.<\/p>\n This is where the Kyiv Security Compact, developed by Anders Fogh Rasmussen with the Ukrainian authorities, provides a credible foundation. Building on that work, the former NATO Secretary General has proposed a plan to make peace in Ukraine enforceable: a\u00a0European reassurance force<\/strong>, stationed behind the front line, tasked with monitoring violations, deterring new aggression and stabilising any ceasefire. This is not an offensive mission \u2014 it is the minimum requirement for a credible agreement. Crucially, the plan addresses the hardest part of any peace deal: making it durable, enforceable, and acceptable to both sides without rewarding aggression.<\/p>\n Around this backbone, Europe must build a broader security structure: integrated air and missile defence; maritime cooperation in the Black Sea; and long-term training and planning mechanisms with Ukraine.<\/p>\n Europe talks often of strategic autonomy.<\/p>\n Now it must prove it.<\/p>\n Ukraine is fighting for its survival.<\/p>\n Europe \u2014 whether it admits it or not \u2014 is fighting for its place in a world ruled by power, not declarations.<\/p>\n * Daniel Puglisi is Senior Director Communications at Rasmussen Global.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “The Kyiv Security Compact, developed by Anders Fogh Rasmussen with the Ukrainian authorities, provides a credible foundation”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7894,"featured_media":440840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25711,25707],"tags":[32763,30548],"class_list":["post-441564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","category-world-politics","tag-rasmussen","tag-ukraine-in-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441566,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441564\/revisions\/441566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}