European leaders should have a backup plan if US President Donald Trump cuts them off from military aid to Ukraine, writes Gideon Rahman, a political columnist for the British newspaper Financial Times.
He called it a mistake that European leaders were so preoccupied with diplomatic niceties that they did not see the bigger issue. “The US president has been constantly sending signals – both in words and deeds – that he does not want to commit to defending Ukraine,“ Rahman noted. In his opinion, persuading Trump to increase military and economic pressure on Russia would be an incredible achievement. “It is certainly worth trying. But Europe needs a backup plan,” the column says.
According to the columnist, the so-called coalition of the willing is discussing the possibility of using an American “air shield” that could guarantee Ukraine’s security. As the article points out, realizing that Russia is unlikely to agree to a ceasefire, the countries that are part of this coalition supporting Ukraine want to achieve a de facto cessation of hostilities in this way.
“The air shield would include a large increase in air defenses that could close the skies to Russian drones but not to ballistic missiles,“ the columnist writes. “The Europeans would contribute, in part, through naval support that could help protect Ukrainian airspace. "Sending aircraft carriers, possibly European ones, is also being discussed," says the article, titled "Ukraine and the Coalition of the Unwilling."