Washington’s support for Ukraine should not dispel a sense of urgency among EU countries, Ukraine and its allies warn.
Washington has agreed to send billions more in aid to Ukraine, but Kyiv’s message to Europe is clear: You guys are not off the hook.
“We all welcome the decision of the U.S. House of Representatives … But we in Europe cannot and should not relax,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said during a video call with EU foreign ministers on Monday. “The defense of Europe is first and foremost a matter for us, Europeans.”
European heads of state and government promised last week to step up their air defense support for Ukraine, following Germany’s announcement that it was sending a Patriot air defense system to Kyiv.
“This is not a question of months, it’s a question of days and weeks,” European Council President Charles Michel said after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also pledged that more air defense help for Ukraine would be announced over the coming days.
But Washington’s renewed support risks taking the pressure off the EU, said two European diplomats who were granted anonymity to speak freely.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Of the overall figure, $60.8 billion is earmarked for Ukraine to refresh armaments, replenish silos and fund the logistics needed to get weaponry out of storage sites across Europe and to the frontline.
His Dutch colleague, Kajsa Ollongren, gave a similarly broad answer: “We are doing everything, providing the financing, but also helping [to speed] up the actual delivery because it’s needed today, and not tomorrow.”
I understand there’s a lot of relief that the United States is back into action … but that does not remove the pressure from Europe,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told POLITICO on Monday.
For months Ukraine has been clamoring for more artillery, air defense systems, long-range missiles and fighter jets, with frontline troops and leading politicians arguing they risk losing ground on the battlefield — and maybe even the war itself.
In the longer term the U.S. aid package doesn’t change the situation Europe faces: The bloc must step up its own support for Ukraine and boost its own defensive capabilities instead of continuing to rely on the U.S. security umbrella.
“European countries need to double their efforts to avoid the wrong perception that Europe freerides on the U.S.,” said Guntram Wolff, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank, following the House vote.
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