PNN – An American newspaper wrote that while Europe is trying to reduce its dependence on Washington by increasing its defense budget, President Donald Trump’s anger over Ukraine has left the continent’s leaders with difficult choices.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the New York Times newspaper added: Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky’s harsh behavior at the White House meeting on Friday added to the urgency of European leaders’ efforts to support Ukraine and strengthen their defense budget.
With Trump back in the White House, European leaders are trying to increase their defense budget while maintaining his cooperation on Ukraine to reduce dependence on America, which is becoming an increasingly unstable partner.
Friday’s meeting in the US President’s office, in which Trump blamed the President of Ukraine, stressed the point to European leaders that they must urgently agree on stronger and more concrete plans.
Trump’s anger and his threat that if Ukraine does not accept the American peace plan, Washington’s support for the country may stop, is the latest sign of Trump’s approach in turning the US foreign policy away from the country’s traditional allies in Europe towards Russia.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of the Republic of Germany, told the German news agency yesterday: What happened in the White House took my breath away. I never believed that we should defend Ukraine against America.
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The New York Times added: It will take years for Europe’s weapons systems and power to reach independence. But supporting Ukraine while strengthening defenses at home requires swift action and united political will, which the EU often struggles to achieve.
European leaders have so far discussed how to contribute to security guarantees in Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement, the conditions to be accepted and the content of their aid package to Kiev in the future.
They are meeting in London this Sunday to discuss defense issues. Then, on Thursday, they will gather in Brussels to participate in a special meeting of the European Council with the presence of EU leaders.
Representatives from 27 member countries of this union met on Friday evening to agree on the draft of the topics to be discussed at the Brussels meeting.
The plan includes calls for a rapid increase in EU defense funding and clearer security guarantees to Ukraine, an official familiar with the EU leaders’ talks said.
Part of the problem is that more funding typically means less spending on other priorities, such as health care and social services. Given the economic challenges and budget constraints in Germany, France and smaller countries such as Belgium, finding the political will to realize this goal faces challenges.
Among the European countries, Hungary is against the new aid package to Ukraine. The disagreements will force the EU to collect aid from member states to save time, rather than pass an EU-wide aid package for Ukraine that would require the agreement of all countries.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, unlike many European leaders, thanked Trump for his treatment of Zelesenko and wrote on the social network: The American president bravely defended peace, even though it was difficult for many to digest.