Robin Simpson

The President of the United States has announced, with obvious pride, that he phoned Vladimir Putin and asked him for fuel. He calls it a great success. It is the richest country on earth going cap in hand to the man who bombs Ukrainian cities every night, because diesel became expensive before an election. For four years Europe paid more for its energy, housed millions of refugees and emptied its arsenals so that Putin would not be rewarded. Washington has now concluded that all of it matters less than a cheaper tank for a truck in Ohio, and has told Ukraine to stop hitting the refineries that pay for the war. This used to be the country others measured themselves against. Its remaining admirers are in Moscow and Pyongyang, and it has become exactly the kind of shithole it used to sneer at.