These are decisive weeks for the future of Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine. There is one month left until Donald Trump arrives at the White House and alarm is increasing over the possibility that he will reduce support for kyiv. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, called this Thursday in Brussels for “unity” between Europe and Washington in the face of Russian aggression. “It is very difficult to maintain support for Ukraine without the United States,” acknowledged the Ukrainian, who participated in the summit that the heads of state and government of the EU are holding in Brussels. European allies are struggling to maintain defense supplies for kyiv so that it can reach a peace negotiation with Russia—which increasingly looks less impossible—from a position of greater strength. The priority now is to increase shipments of air defense systems and strengthen training programs for Ukrainian troops.
The EU has promised to support Ukraine for as long as necessary. But that may become increasingly difficult if Washington relaxes its support. In addition, kyiv and a growing group of European states seek certain “security guarantees” for the future of Ukraine. A difficult element without Washington. An umbrella that can range from NATO membership to the deployment of European troops on the ground, as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has once again proposed these days. A group of G-7 countries, joined by others, such as Spain and Poland, have already signed bilateral agreements on “security commitments” in response to the Alliance’s refusal to guarantee kyiv’s entry, but these pacts are fundamentally guarantees of prolonged economic support.
Now we are talking about something much more tangible. The leaders and representatives of seven NATO allied countries (Germany, Italy, Poland, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands); The president of the European Council, António Costa, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, met on Thursday night with Zelensky in a meeting organized by the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, to shore up a position strong position of the European allies, community sources assure.
It is also a conflict on European soil that has put the continent’s security in check. “This war is not just about Ukraine, about Europe; It is about international law, which must prevail and the invasion must be defeated,” stressed the President of the Council, António Costa, at his first EU summit.
The objective, accelerate aid
The objective is to accelerate aid at a particularly critical time, both on the battlefront and on the global geopolitical table. But the recipes to achieve this differ. And even more so as the environment opens up to a hypothetical peace negotiation towards which Trump has already pressed. At the meeting on Wednesday night, the United Kingdom committed to increasing the training of the Ukrainian military, and the EU, to shore up the energy infrastructure of the invaded country in the face of a winter that is expected to be even harsher due to Russian attacks.
“The war has been going on for a long time, it has cost countless lives,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this Thursday. “We must guarantee long-term support for Ukraine,” added the German leader, who explained that he has asked Europeans to consider what more they can do so that kyiv “can defend its independence and sovereignty.” The Social Democrat, however, continues to oppose sending German Taurus long-range missiles to Ukrainian troops.
But there is also risk in activating conversations about the future. “Any push to start negotiations too soon would be bad business for Ukraine,” the High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Kaja Kallas, warned this Thursday upon her arrival at the European Council (the body that brings together European leaders), the last before Trump’s inauguration. “All the other actors in the world are carefully watching how we act in this case, therefore: we must be strong,” he stressed.