In the weeks following the mid-August Alaska summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Russia has escalated its military campaign against Ukraine, intensified hybrid attacks against NATO Allies, and warned that any Western troops deployed to Ukraine would be “legitimate targets”. Trump recently expressed frustration with Putin and resurrected threats to impose harsh sanctions on Russia, especially its energy exports. Still, as in the past, Trump has stopped short of actions that arguably could convince Putin that time is not on his side as Russia pursues military victory over Ukraine.
Ironically, the Alaska summit came on the heels of a “low expectations” NATO summit that successfully avoided contentious issues and actually achieved some positive results on defense spending commitments. However, many allied officials remain unsettled by the rhetoric and actions of the Trump administration as it seeks to fundamentally shift responsibilities and burdens for European security away from the United States. The opportunities for major transatlantic discord are legion: for example, over future security and economic relations with Russia and China, defense industrial cooperation, and strategic issues such as nuclear deterrence, missile defense and non-proliferation. At the same time, as Celeste Wallander explains in her July 2025 essay in Foreign Affairs, “[American officials] must understand the downsides of their success. Growing European power means the era of comfortable US leadership is over. Now that it provides more for itself, Europe will feel less pressure to defer to Washington’s interests.”
Celeste Wallander, Ph.D., our guest for this episode of Transatlantic Currents, is the Executive Director of Penn Washington, the University of Pennsylvania’s office in Washington, D.C. Appointed by President Biden as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in February 2022, she played a key role during his entire administration in formulating and implementing US national security policy concerning Europe, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Programme
Opening words:
Maria Lindén, Research Fellow, FIIA
Speaker:
Celeste Wallander, Director of Penn Washington, former Assistant Secretary of Defense
Chair:
Leo Michel, Non-Resident Fellow, FIIA
Transatlantic Currents is a monthly webinar series hosted by FIIA’s Center on US Politics and Power featuring American experts on political science and international relations. The series covers a wide array of timely topics from foreign and defense policy to US domestic issues of particular interest to the transatlantic community. The webinars are hosted by FIIA Non-Resident Fellows Ambassador (retired) Deborah McCarthy and Leo Michel.
Picture: The White House
The event is organized in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Finland.
