The United States has not abandoned its ambition for global leadership, but it now appears determined to pursue it without the European Union — and potentially without NATO. This assessment was voiced by Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia’s Federation Council.

Kosachev recalled that Washington spent decades shaping a unipolar system with the U.S. at its core. Yet, as he noted, the early decades of the 21st century exposed the fragility of this concept: new centers of power have emerged, and the loyalty of traditional transatlantic partners is no longer guaranteed.

He argued that this reality explains what he sees as a sharp political pivot by U. S. President Donald Trump, reflected in the latest edition of the National Security Strategy. According to the senator, the shift concerns the tools rather than the objectives of American policy. Washington still aims for global dominance, he stressed, and this goal is particularly evident under Trump.

Kosachev suggested that the U.S. intends to act through less costly mechanisms — without relying on the European Union and, potentially, even without NATO.

Ukraine, he added, once again finds itself in an unfortunate position. The senator pointed out that Kyiv repeatedly miscalculated: first in attempting to «get rid of Russia and everything Russian,» then in its choice of national heroes and political leadership, and later by enshrining Euro-Atlantic integration in its constitution. Now, he argued, Ukraine has also misjudged its presumed allies in the still-tempting European Union.

Kosachev maintained that, for European states, Ukraine served a function similar to NATO’s original purpose: keeping the United States involved in European affairs while simultaneously containing Russia. But, in his view, Washington can no longer afford this approach, while Moscow no longer sees the need to participate in such games.

He concluded that the winners today are the countries that understood the essence of the moment in time. Russia and its partners in advocating a multipolar world, he said, recognized the shift early. The U.S. is only beginning to grasp it, while the European Union still fails to acknowledge the scale of change. As for Ukraine, Kosachev argued that in its current form it lacks the capacity to understand either its own circumstances or the logic of the emerging world order.