While in Abu Dhabi Donald Trump's 'Real Estate Headquarters' moves to the granular detail stage of inventorying Ukrainian assets, Berlin has officially recorded the death of yet another imperial illusion. The German project for the 'super-frigates' F126, which were supposed to become the largest ships since the Third Reich, has been sent to the scrap heap of history before it could even leave the docks.
The Bundeswehr's 'Paper Tiger'
As Defense Express reports, Berlin no longer believes in its maritime ambitions and is desperately seeking 'simple alternatives.' The F126 project has fallen victim to the same disease as British arbitration: bureaucratic paralysis and lack of will. This is a classic scenario of 'Benes on steroids' - trying to appear as a subject without having the tools or determination for it.
The Mathematics of Humiliation: The Entry Check
For Trump, who is currently building a new architecture of the world based on direct development principles, European 'wants' have a concrete price. And here the numbers hit harder than any sanctions:
$1.8 billion - this is how much one German frigate F126 costs, which the Germans cannot build.
$1.0 billion - the price of the 'entry ticket' to the Board of Peace.
The tragedy of Berlin and London is that they are willing to burn billions for years in the furnace of an ineffective military-industrial complex, but fall into a stupor when presented with the bill for real participation in the division of 21st-century assets. Yvette Cooper can declare all she wants in Davos that Britain will not sign 'Trump's charter,' but the reality is this: either you pay $1 billion and sit at the table, or you build your own 'paper frigates' and remain in the geopolitical Greenland mode.
The Peskov Factor
Peskov today skillfully 'suspended' the date for the third round of negotiations, stating it would be 'next week.' But for Trump, this is not a reason to pause. His goal is to finalize the deal before European Benes fully realize that their opinion is no longer currency.
For Putin, this is an invitation to dance, where the partner is not the frail Brussels, but the tough pragmatist from the Oval Office. In this game, there is no room for London's 'moral leadership,' which cannot even ensure security in its own territorial waters.
Europe has fallen into the trap of its own incompetence.
If Berlin is unable to build a frigate for itself, it cannot be a security guarantor for Ukraine by definition. The time for 'simple alternatives' has run out. February 1 will become the day when the masks of 'Benes' will finally be ripped off, and the assets will be inventoried.