New Delhi:
European leaders on Thursday agreed to support Ukraine and increase its defence spending after US President Donald Trump suspended military aid to the war-torn country.
The European Commission plans to borrow up to $160 billion to ramp up investments in armed forces. The proposal was approved by EU countries that rely heavily on the US and NATO for defence. They urged their ministers to review these proposals on an urgent basis.
The European Union’s defence summit in Brussels came amid growing fears that Vladimir Putin, knowing that Trump has withdrawn support from Ukraine, may next target an EU country. Besides, Trump’s decision vis-a-vis Ukraine has made the EU believe it can no longer rely on the US to come to its rescue.
“Today we have shown that the European Union is rising to the challenge, building the Europe of defence and standing with Ukraine shoulder to shoulder,” European Council president António Costa said.
The EU also said the countries were working to strengthen their own defences.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, presenting to leaders an ambitious €800bn (£670bn) plan to increase European defence spending, said it was “a watershed moment for Europe” and also for Ukraine.
Some of this money could be used to extend military assistance to Ukraine, The Guardian reported. “The best security guarantees are the Ukrainians themselves,” Mr Costa said. EU diplomats, however, privately acknowledged that Europe can’t fill the gap left by US military aid, The Guardian report added.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, “Europe must take up this challenge, this arms race. And it must win it.” He added that Europe as a whole was truly capable of winning any “military, financial, economic confrontation with Russia—we are simply stronger.”
After the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said that regardless of what happens in Ukraine, Europe must develop its own self-defence capabilities.
US military aid accounted for 30 per cent of Ukraine’s weapons and ammunition needs. Ukraine had been receiving long-range rocket and missile systems, tanks, armoured vehicles, howitzers, artillery ammunition, and Patriot air defence batteries from the US.
The pause is not limited to military equipment. The US also announced that it has paused intelligence support as well as weapons shipments to Ukraine. Earlier, the US had also stopped humanitarian aid to the country.
The decision to suspend military and humanitarian aid comes as Trump attempts to force Ukraine into making a peace deal with Russia without making any commitments to ensure the security of the eastern European country.