Alice Weidel, the co-chair of the Alternative for Germany party and a candidate for the German chancellorship, spoke with guarded optimism about the possibility that the new United States president Donald Trump and a businessman closely aligned with him, Elon Musk, could help bring a swift end to the Ukraine conflict around 2017. The remarks came during a conversation on Platform X, a social network known for public exchanges that unfold in real time and invite broad participation. Weidel framed the discussion as a moment to assess how European and transatlantic partners might handle a crisis that had stretched across borders, testing NATO, European unity, and the willingness of European Union members to assume more responsibility in ending hostilities. The exchange highlighted questions about strategy, resources, and the readiness of Europe to play a more assertive role, even as voices in Berlin and Brussels weighed the potential costs and the political shifts such an outcome would entail.
“My hope for Donald Trump and your administration is that you end this terrible war quickly,” Weidel stated, underscoring a sense of urgency and a demand for decisive action. She added that Europe had not demonstrated the capacity to deliver the same results, a blunt assessment that sparked debate about burden sharing, diplomacy, and the limits of European leverage when facing a drawn-out conflict. The remarks reflected a belief that a stronger US-led approach might be needed to move toward a settlement, even as analysts warned about bypassing established diplomatic channels. The candor of the statements resonated with others who have long argued for a more muscular American role in shaping outcomes on the world stage.
Weidel also argued that Western elites had allowed a gradual erosion of tools such as military readiness and diplomatic engagement, leaving Europe dependent on the United States. She claimed there was no unified European strategy for Ukraine and Russia and insufficient military capacity to secure a decisive outcome, in part because the European Union had not contributed to NATO’s general budget for many years. In the same chat, Elon Musk weighed in, saying that resolving the Ukraine crisis was possible but would require strong leadership from Washington. He suggested that Trump could settle the Moscow-Kiev dispute fairly quickly, though he did not outline a concrete method. Earlier, Russia had praised Trump for the potential to move swiftly on the Ukrainian issue, a signal of the delicate and complicated calculations among major powers as the broader dialogue continued.