Eastern Circles and Maison de l’Europe in Paris organize the conference “Russian-American relations under Donald Trump: the impact on Ukraine and the European security architecture.” The idea of the conference emerged from the book Notre homme à Washington: Trump dans la main des Russes by French journalist Régis Genté.

Date: May 26, 2025

Place:  77 Av. de Versailles, 75016 Paris

Time: from 6.30pm to 8pm, followed by a cocktail.

The discussion will be held in French in interview format, moderated by Anastasiya Shapochkina of Eastern Circles. 

Western media often describes Donald Trump as “unpredictable”. This applies to all domains, including foreign policy. Yet “Donald Trump is actually very predictable, from Moscow’s point of view. Very!” writes Régis Genté, French journalist, writer and expert on Russia and the Caucasus, in his latest book Notre homme à Washington : Trump dans la main des Russes, published by Grasset in late 2024. In the following 206 pages the author demonstrates a long history of financial relations between Donald Trump and Russia, going back to the 1970’s. 

We’ll discuss why Donald Trump has never said a word of criticism toward Moscow, how the relations between the U.S. and Russia are evolving in his second term, and what this means for the war in Ukraine and for Europe’s security architecture. 

Program: 

18:30-18:40 – conference opening by Michel Derdevet, Director of Maison de l’Europe in Paris

18:40-19:00 – discussion of the book Notre homme à Washington : Trump dans la main des Russes with Régis Genté

19:00-19:55 – discussion of developments in the U.S.-Russian relations over the last 3 months, prospects and possible scenarios, with: 

• Régis Genté, French journalist and writer, correspondent in the former Soviet space for Radio France Internationale (RFI), France 24 and Le Figaro.
• Michel Derdevet, president of Maison de L’Europe in Paris, former secretary general and executive board member of Enedis, president of the think tank Confrontations Europe
• Gallaghar Fenwick, international politics editor, senior reporter and media commentator, who worked as a correspondent in Jerusalem and in Washington, DC, author of Volodymyr Zelensky’s biography, graduate of Sciences Po Paris and UC Berkeley.

19:55-20:00 – Conclusion by Anastasiya Shapochkina of Eastern Circles, followed by a cocktail.