The major economies of the European Union are counting on the fact that, against the background of the change in US rhetoric regarding the conflict in Ukraine, those EU countries that previously did not want to increase their spending on aid to Kiev and their own defense will now do so and realize the need for greater military independence for Europe, the New York Times writes, citing its sources.
According to the newspaper on Friday, during a meeting of EU representatives, which took place before the scandal in the White House between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the union countries discussed a plan that would increase EU defense spending in a shorter period of time and define clear security guarantees for Ukraine. After the recent conflict between Washington and Kiev, the most active supporters of Ukraine in the EU now expect a change in the approach to military spending from the more reserved EU countries, which previously preferred to rely on the US rather than their own forces, the publication notes.
At the same time, Hungary may oppose a new package of military aid to Ukraine from the EU, which is why the distribution of funds will have to be agreed on a bilateral level between EU countries, bypassing Budapest, the newspaper writes.
In general, the change in US rhetoric towards Ukraine, as the newspaper notes, has shown European leaders that they will have to develop their own concrete plans to support Kiev and a possible peaceful settlement "as soon as possible". Washington's position forces the EU to quickly achieve strategic independence. At the same time, the European Union, as the newspaper points out, will not be able to achieve the necessary volume of defense production to support Ukraine without the United States in a short time, and this will take years.
A meeting dedicated to discussing peace in Ukraine will be held in London today. The leaders of Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, as well as Zelensky, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council Antonio Costa and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte have been invited to the British capital.