If Russia has not used nuclear weapons and China has not openly and fully stood by its side, they cannot defeat Ukraine! Standing by Ukraine’s side are the European Union, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and many other democratic states! A large part of the “Republicans” in the US is also on the side of the Ukrainians, therefore the situation is not unambiguous and US support will definitely return! — Director of the Centre for European Studies Kakha Gogolashvili stated this on the PalitraNews program “Day’s Newsroom.”

In Gogolashvili’s assessment, US President Donald Trump was tilted toward Russia’s side from the very first day he entered the White House, and depending on the circumstances he sometimes manifested this and sometimes did not. According to Gogolashvili, against the background of the approaching midterm elections in the US, circumstances have been created in which Trump is manifesting this.

“Donald Trump has always been like this. He had special sympathies toward Russia from the very beginning, or he is somehow obligated to Russia. It was visible that some connection existed. The elections have approached and Trump has a rather tense period. There is also the issue of nerves here. Besides that, in my opinion, Trump does not stand out for any moral restraints that would make him place the issue of victory in the elections lower than such a universal human good as, for example, Ukraine’s victory or the containment of Russia, or if you will, of the authoritarian world. For him this is not such a priority. The priority is not to lose in the elections those votes that he needs.

Everyone notes that in the US there are far more supporters of Ukraine than of Russia. According to various calculations, more than 50% are fans of Ukraine. Some even name 70%, however Trump has his stable electorate and he places the emphasis on his stable electorate and its demands. Let us not forget that Trump made a major strategic mistake that will cost him the price of defeat in the elections — this is the unprovoked attack on Iran, when Iran had not created a ‘casus belli’ for him to start a war with it.

In the US there is a rather large part of the electorate that is politically neutral, does not stand out for empathy toward anyone, and has purely economic interests such as incomes and prices. Of course, the unbalanced and uncalculated step taken toward Iran affected them. Trump now needs to compensate for this,” Kakha Gogolashvili stated.

According to him, sanctions against Russia from the side of the European Union will increase even more and the European Union will try to achieve greater political isolation of Russia.

“Besides that, standing by Ukraine’s side are Canada, Japan, South Korea, and many other democratic states. Apart from Trump, the democratic world stands by Ukraine’s side. A large part of the ‘Republicans’ in the US also stands by the Ukrainians. Therefore the situation is not unambiguous. Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people feel this. Of course, they need more effort, more sacrifice — they have been fighting until now and do not want to lay down their arms. They feel well that this support is becoming even stronger. US support will definitely return as well! Congress will be filled and I hope that in the Senate too the majority will be ‘Democrats.’ The ‘Republican Party’ in foreign relations was always more supportive of the spread of democracy and justice than the ‘Democrats’ were. It is very surprising that at this stage such a strange wing is running the ‘Republicans’ — this, of course, will also change!” Kakha Gogolashvili stated.

Another topic of discussion on the program was the large-scale demonstrations held in the cities of France and the related processes.

In Gogolashvili’s assessment, in France there exists a pronounced unacceptability on the part of migrant groups toward the local cultural customs, which was not the case in the US, and Donald Trump inflamed this with his own hatred toward migrants.

Gogolashvili also says that in France there are political problems when the migration crisis causes the growth of the ultra-right.

At the same time, the expert is convinced that France will emerge from the created crisis.

“From 2015 the situation in France changed for the worse. This was the migration crisis, which subsequently deepened. After that the war in Ukraine and the joint action of the US and Israel in Iran caused economic damage to Europe. Expenses increased, risks increased, incomes decreased. All of this cannot fail to be reflected in the social situation, including the financing of such spheres that are financed from the budget. Of course, problems probably appeared in the sphere of education. Probably the protest expressed by the students was legitimate, but many groups of legal or illegal migrants appeared, aggressive and extremist groups appeared who used this situation to arrange disorder. Of course, France, as a democratic state, is trying to limit this by democratic means. The police do not use disproportionate force against the demonstrators — they come out relatively lightly armed against the demonstrators. I am convinced that France will emerge from this crisis,” Kakha Gogolashvili stated.