It was difficult for Europe after Mr. Trump’s battle – Zelensky

The public battle between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky last week at the Oval Office, the White House, rushed Europe’s efforts to heal the relationship between the two leaders, and seriously threaten the future of Washington aid for Kiev.

President Trump’s anger and the threat of the United States can stop supporting Ukraine if Kiev does not accept any agreement by Washington as the latest sign that the US leader is redirecting foreign policy from traditional allies in Europe and towards Russia.

While the Kremlin said that the US recent foreign policy was in accordance with Russia’s vision, European leaders were confused and bewildered by the sudden change in Washington’s strategy.

Many people are concerned that if the war ends with a peaceful agreement with many disadvantages for Ukraine, it will not solve European security concerns, especially Eastern European countries, on threats from Russia.

On the other hand, changing the position of the Trump administration in the direction of “America above all” makes Europe’s ability to achieve self -reliance and escape dependence on the “security umbrella” of Washington become more urgent than ever.

And when the possibility of Europe has to support Ukraine without helping from the United States, the regional policy makers are reviewing their arsenal to evaluate how much they can intervene.

According to observers, Europe will take many years to build the weapons and capacity systems they need to truly be independent of the US. And both having to strengthen the intrinsic strength and support Ukraine’s support for fierce actions and unified political will that the European Union (EU) often struggles to achieve.

“At this time, everything depends on Europe. The question is how they will act?”, Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, Acting President of Marshall Fund, Germany, said. “They have no other choice.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had just visited Washington, showed the “unmistakable support for Ukraine” when he welcomed President Zelensky on London on March 1.

The British Prime Minister’s office said he had private phone with both Trump and Mr. Zelensky after the White House battle and was doing “everything could find the way towards a long -term peace” for Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also talked to President Zelensky. NATO Secretary General Rutte at the weekend described the controversy at the White House as an “unfortunate” event but noted that he made it clear to President Zelensky about having to “seek to restore relationships” with President Trump as well as the US government.

When possible BBC Interview with whether European allies can afford to replace US aid to Ukraine, Rutte rejected.

“It is important that we have to overcome this together,” he said. “We have to overcome what happened.”

European leaders are arguing about how they can help ensure security in Ukraine if they reach a peaceful agreement, which provisions they can accept and what they can provide to Ukraine in the next aid package.

At the London Summit on Security for Ukraine on March 2, England and France gathered a “alliance of the parties” to build a plan to end the conflict.

During the summit, European leaders pledged to strengthen Ukraine, but some also expressed hope Washington – Kiev could heal the crack, showing how reluctant to Europe before the risk of abandoning the Trans -Atlantic Union has maintained peace for the past 80 years.

“We are at the junction of history,” Prime Minister Starmer said after the conference. “Europe has to shoulder the heavy responsibility,” he declared, but added “to support peace and to succeed, this effort must be strongly supported by the United States.”

Experts say that to gain greater autonomy in defense and play a major role in the Ukrainian aid effort is not easy for Europe.

First of all, most of the financial burden for Ukraine may be very expensive. Washington alone spent about US $ 114 billion on military, financial and humanitarian aid to Kiev over the past three years, compared to $ 132 billion of European countries.

In addition, when it comes to European defense in general, the US also provides important weapons systems and other military devices that are almost irreplaceable.

“We still need America,” said Jeromin Zettelmeyer, director of the Bruegel research team, based in Brussels, Belgium, note.

EU countries have recently increased defense budget, spending more than 30% last year compared to 2021. But some NATO countries have not achieved the goals set by the bloc that spend at least 2% of GDP for defense.

Part of the problem is that more and more for defense often means reducing other priorities, such as health care or social services. With economic challenges and budget restrictions in Germany, France and smaller economies such as Belgium, seeking political will to quickly increase military spending, cut social welfare is sometimes a challenge.

Europe also does not have the same voice in finding more resources to support Ukraine.

Regional officials discussed a future aid package for Ukraine to estimate tens of billions of dollars. By the night before the meeting of Trump – Zelensky took place, they hoped that an agreement between the US and Ukraine could promote the hesitant countries in Europe to open a maid, according to a diplomat who was knowledgeable about the problem.

But Hungary is expected to oppose a new aid package for Ukraine, which may force the EU to call for member states to contribute, instead of through a aid package at the whole level.

In a clear division, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban thanked Mr. Trump after the battle with Mr. Zelensky. The United States “bravely struggled for peace” even if “many people are hard to accept,” he wrote on social networks.

European officials are also considering whether, when and how to bring European peacekeeping to Ukraine if the parties reach an agreement to terminate the conflict. England and France expressed their desire to send troops to Ukraine.

But after the controversy in the oval room, some people think that time to calmly consider past. Whether European officials have just started discussing how security guarantees for Ukraine can look, they now need to start thinking faster about how to do them, Scheffer from the Marshall fund emphasized.

“This is the time when Europe has to act very, very serious,” she said.