Up to now, the United States and its European allies have maintained a united front against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But two and a half months into the war, some signs of friction are beginning to emerge.
They center on the American determination, which has grown with Ukrainian military successes, to ensure the conflict weakens Russia “to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” as Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III put it last month.
European powers, by contrast, do not want a long war of attrition that risks escalation or what they believe could be a dangerous humiliation of Russia. They are more focused on securing a cease-fire in Ukraine and a Russian troop withdrawal, at least to the Feb. 23 lines that existed before the war began. They believe it is critical to maintain a diplomatic dialogue with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“We must, together, never cede to the temptation of humiliation, nor to a spirit of revenge, because they have already, in the past, ravaged the paths of peace,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said this week in a speech in Strasbourg.
He added: “We are not at war with Russia. We are working in Europe for the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and for the return of peace on our continent.”
A diplomatic official close to Mr. Macron, who requested anonymity in keeping with French government practice, described the evolving American…
