Checkmate looming

If the U.S. wants to “retire” from leading the free world, a new grouping of democracies should step up, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

"He played his cards, very badly," Rasmussen said, speaking ahead of this week's democracy summit in Copenhagen.

He criticized Trump for agreeing to hand over Ukrainian territories to Russia and to lift sanctions without Moscow being pressed to make any meaningful sacrifices.

Despite all those concessions, Russian President Vladimir Putin still appears unwilling to make a deal to end the war, the portal reminds.

Rasmussen, who has advised the Ukrainian government in the past, was skeptical that the recent pressure from Trump to reach a ceasefire and begin negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will bear fruit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to travel to Istanbul to meet with Putin, who has refused to agree to a ceasefire before beginning talks. Trump, too, has said he could attend talks.

"The Russians are playing games," Rasmussen said. "There is now a chess game about who will get the attention of President Trump", added the former NATO Secretary General.

Although Trump has made it clear he wants an end to the bloodshed, Rasmussen said he assumed the fighting would continue.

The U.S. president has also undermined confidence in NATO thanks to his musings that the U.S. may not fulfill its Article 5 obligation to defend fellow alliance members if Trump feels their defense spending is too low.

Rasmussen added he agrees with intelligence assessments that Russia could attack the EU in the coming years.

That means European countries will have to shoulder much more of the burden on defense spending and in supporting Ukraine, the Politico portal concluded.