As Vladimir Putin continues to await a call from U.S.

As Vladimir Putin  continues to await a call from  U.S.
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President Donald Trump, a  shift in the political balance in Europe  could strengthen his hand in  future diplomacy  aimed at ending Russia's war in  Ukraine.
Leaders in parts of  Central and  Eastern Europe  have begun to break  away from the united front presented by the European Union and NATO in support of Ukraine and against  Russia.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the most Kremlin-friendly  leader in a long time, is increasingly  joining nationalists in countries such as Slovakia, Austria, Bulgaria and Croatia in  calling for sanctions  against Russia and military aid to Ukraine.  The far-right candidate in Romania's presidential  election has called Ukraine an "invented state" that will  disintegrate because "the war  has been lost."
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In Germany too, the so-called firewall  erected by  the main parties against cooperation with the  staunchly pro-Russian Alternative for Germany  (AfD) has been  breached on migration  policy in  the run-up to this month's elections, with the far-right party  coming in second  place in the polls.
Trump is  trying to push President Putin to  "make a  deal" to  quickly end the  war. He is threatening  new "major" sanctions and  a drop in oil prices in an attempt to  destroy the  Russian economy if Putin  resists.
Moscow may  count on being able to resist such  pressure in negotiations with Trump  to reinforce divisions in Europe  by weakening support for  Ukraine.
This could help Putin  shift Trump's focus to  Kiev to accept terms  of a deal more favorable to Russia,  knowing that the US president is already skeptical  about continuing  defense funding for Ukraine.
Most nationalist leaders in Europe are  open admirers of Trump and are  counting on him to end the war and  thus strengthen their  economies.
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By being able to break European unity at a critical moment, the irony is  that it could give Putin the political space to continue trying to  resolve the war on the battlefield.

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