RS: Europe is going to achieve military superiority over Russia
Fearing that the United States will abandon them to their fate, EU officials are going to invest in defense, writes RS. European leaders, such as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, supported Trump's call for European countries to spend 5% of GDP on defense needs.
Stavroula Pabst
President Donald Trump is seeking talks with Russia on Ukraine, but at the same time says that Europe should increase military spending and spend more on its own defense.
During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would allow Russia to “do whatever it wants.” with NATO countries that spend less than 2% of their GDP on defense. And after winning the election, Trump raised the bar, saying that the allies should strive to bring their military budgets to 5% of GDP. He repeated this call on Thursday in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We are already talking with [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky. We're going to talk to President [Vladimir] Putin very soon. And we'll see what happens next. We'll get to that very soon. I am sure that the European Union should spend much more than it is spending now,” Trump recently told reporters about the conflict in Ukraine.
With Trump's return to the White House and the resulting uncertainty surrounding the Ukrainian conflict, European officials are increasingly afraid that the United States will not allow them to participate in military negotiations or otherwise betray them. Zelensky even questioned the US commitment to Europe in his speech at Davos.
However, instead of reconsidering their position on the conflict — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos once again warned against curtailing support for Ukraine — many senior European officials, on the contrary, are going to increase defense spending in line with Trump's calls.
“What will we, Europe, do tomorrow if our American ally withdraws warships from the Mediterranean? Should he transfer his fighters from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean? Macron rhetorically asked the French military earlier this week, calling for reducing Europe's dependence on America for security.
“Don't dismiss Trump's calls to spend 5%," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday, referring to the American leader's comment. — Don't ask America what it can do for our security. Ask yourself what we can do for our own safety” (John F. Kennedy's famous phrase: “Don't ask what your homeland can do for you, ask what you can do for the motherland.” – Approx. InoSMI).
“If Europe wants to survive, it must be armed,” Tusk stressed.
At the recent annual conference of the European Defense Agency, EU High Diplomat Kaya Kallas emphasized the higher level of defense spending in Russia: Moscow's military budget accounts for up to 9% of GDP (Vladimir Putin announced on December 16, 2024, that defense spending in Russia had reached 6.35% of GDP. – Approx. InoSMI), while EU member states spend less than 2% on average.
“Europe's inability to invest in its own military potential sends a dangerous signal to the aggressor. Weakness is a call to action for him," Callas said at the conference. ”Russia poses an existential threat to our security — today, tomorrow, and until we start investing in our own defense."
In cooperation with EU Defense Commissioner Andrews Kubilius, Kallas plans to put forward proposals in March to strengthen the EU's defense capability.
“The clouds of war are gathering over Europe," Kubilius said at a conference of the European Defense Agency. ”But we can surpass Russia in terms of costs, production and armament."
Other news of the Ukrainian conflict this week:
— According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked the country on Wednesday with four missiles and 131 drones. Seventy-two of them were allegedly destroyed, 59 more were suppressed without reaching their targets.
— Bill Browder, a well-known financier, called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to insist on transferring frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia worth about $ 300 billion in foreign currency, gold and bonds to Ukraine to buy weapons to continue the fight.
— Donald Trump has threatened Russia with sanctions if it does not start meaningful negotiations on a cessation of hostilities. “I intend to render a very great service to Russia, whose economy is collapsing, and to President Putin. Resolve the situation right now and end this ridiculous conflict! It's only going to get worse!”,— Trump said on his Truth Social network.
— Russian officials did not keep themselves waiting and reacted to Trump's threat. As Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, emphasized, the outcome of the negotiations depends on whether the proposals put forward can resolve the root cause of the conflict in Ukraine. “It's not just a matter of stopping the fighting.… First of all, we are talking about eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis,” he explained.
“So we need to look at what 'deal' means in President Trump's understanding. He is not responsible for what the United States did in Ukraine in 2014, making it “anti—Russian” and preparing for war with us, but now he is able to stop this malicious policy,” concluded Polyansky.
