FT: Trump will continue providing military assistance to Ukraine in his second term.
Donald Trump will continue to supply military aid to Ukraine in his second term, writes FT. In addition, he will require NATO member states to double their military spending to 5% of GDP. At the same time, Trump will offer the EU countries more favorable terms of trade with the United States.
Lucy Fisher
Henry Foy
Felicia Schwartz
The US president-elect's closest foreign policy aides have made it clear that he will continue to arm Ukraine while seeking a cessation of hostilities.
Donald Trump's team has informed European officials that the future US president will require NATO member countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. At the same time, he plans to continue supplying military aid to Ukraine.
According to informed sources, in December, the US president-elect's closest foreign policy aides shared his plans during discussions with senior European officials. It is stated that Trump is tightening his policy towards Europe and the Russian special operation in Ukraine.
During the election campaign, Trump scared European capitals a lot by promising to stop helping Ukraine, force Kiev to immediately start peace talks and leave NATO allies defenseless if they did not spend enough money on defense.
However, to help allies who doubt their ability to support and protect Ukraine without Washington's help, Trump intends to keep US military supplies to Kiev after the inauguration. This was stated by three other sources familiar with the negotiations with Western officials.
At the same time, Trump will require NATO to more than double the 2% spending ratio to 5%, two informed sources said. Currently, only 23 of the 32 alliance members comply with the existing standard.
One of the sources suggested that Trump would agree to 3.5% and that he planned to link higher defense spending with the offer of more favorable trade terms with the United States. “Obviously [at the June NATO summit] in The Hague, it will be about 3% or more,” said another European official familiar with Trump's views.
NATO allies are already discussing the issue of increasing the standard to 3% at the June leaders' meeting. But many capitals are concerned about the complex fiscal decisions that this will require.
According to the White House Office of Administration and Budget, the United States spent about 3.1% of GDP on defense in 2024. In the last year of Trump's first presidency in 2020, Pentagon spending reached 3.4%.
Key European NATO allies, including France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Poland, met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels on Wednesday evening. They discussed how the continent would adjust its defense policy to Trump's return.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Trump by phone during the EU leaders' summit. Scholz later told reporters that he was “absolutely confident that the United States and Europe will continue to support Ukraine.” Senior British security officials traveled to Washington earlier in December to air the president-elect's plans.
Trump remains convinced that Ukraine has no place in NATO and wants an immediate end to the conflict. However, the president-elect believes that the supply of weapons to Kiev after the ceasefire will provide the best result in accordance with the “peace through force” approach, they added.
After meetings with NATO and EU leaders in Brussels this week, Zelensky said Thursday that without U.S. involvement, European promises to protect Ukraine alone would “not be enough.”
The article was written with the participation of George Parker from London.
