It's hard to believe now, but American, British, French, Polish and Ukrainian troops marched alongside their Russian counterparts in Moscow's Red Square in 2010 to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Vladimir Putin watched as NATO troops joined the May 9 military parade alongside German and Chinese leaders. Dmitry Medvedev, then Russia's president, spoke of a shared desire to preserve peace.
Fast-forward to 2025, nearly three years after Russia began its war with Ukraine, and Putin is preparing to host the 80th anniversary parade. He invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to join him in Red Square — and Xi accepted. Will Putin invite US President Donald Trump too? And will Trump go?
The temptation would be strong.
Trump is preparing to push Russia and Ukraine to quickly reach an agreement to end the war and yesterday hailed Putin's release of an American as evidence of Russian "goodwill." Success before May 9 would allow him to go to Moscow as the president who restored peace to Europe.
Putin may have bigger plans in mind. He has long sought to modernize the 1945 Yalta agreement, when the Big Three, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt, met in Crimea and defined spheres of influence in post-war Europe.
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Putin last year promoted a "new Eurasian security system" stretching from Europe to China. With Xi and Trump in Moscow, he would have the opportunity to form a new big three of strong leaders. Trump wants Greenland, Canada, and the Panama Canal in the Western Hemisphere. Xi Jinping wants to control Taiwan and the South China Sea. Putin wants to restore Russia's dominance in Europe and its superpower status lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Trump says he gets along well with Xi Jinping and Putin and that a pact to strengthen global security would appeal to all.
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This would also instill fear in many of America's democratic allies in Europe and Asia. - Toni Halpin
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