European countries are considering buying American weapons in case US President Donald Trump refuses to directly help Ukraine. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to sources, UNN reports.
Details
It is noted that Europe does not have either arms stockpiles or production capacity in sufficient quantities to supply Ukraine. At the same time, it is becoming clear that the US will no longer supply weapons to Ukraine and has rejected European calls to step up sanctions against Russia to force it to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Instead, the Kremlin, apparently, is dragging out the peace talks promised to Trump, preparing for a summer offensive.
The proposal, which is gaining more and more credibility, is to buy more American systems and then send these weapons to Ukraine. The idea is that if Trump refuses to supply American weapons to Ukraine, Europe will.
This would help Ukraine contain Russia's advance and could put new pressure on Putin to take a ceasefire seriously.
In essence, such a turn of events would force Trump to choose between two desires: to avoid antagonism with Putin and to bring more money to the US at the expense of expensive military goods.
The publication's sources added that they expect the US to continue sharing intelligence with Ukraine to help identify targets. Earlier, a brief pause created operational problems for Kyiv, and also raised broader concerns among US allies that they may face similar treatment in the future.
"Experts say that the supply of weapons to Ukraine, approved and funded by former President Joe Biden, may end this summer, and that Europe will try to produce enough weapons to fill this gap. Putin will try to take advantage of this dynamic, experts say," Bloomberg reports.
Recall
Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said that Ukraine proposes to the European Union to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 2026. He stressed that such costs are a small percentage of the EU's GDP, but it will help to strengthen Europe's defense much faster.