Vice President JD Vance talks to the NATO logo at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 14. Tobias Schwarrs/AFP via Getty Images hide the illustration
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After the Russian invasion of Ukraine three years ago, there was a lot of talk about revitalizing the NATO alliance in response to the Kurdish aggression.
The coalition had grown in decades since the Cold War. Its reputation has suffered more during the era of President Trump, who, during his first term, was publicly rejecting NATO, and Russian President Vladimir Putin praised and threatened to withdraw American protection under the Model defense item in NATO unless the European allies did not increase their defensive spending.
However, after Russia's assault on Ukraine, US military aid began to flow to Kiev under the administration of Biden, and many of these concerns seem to fade. Sweden and Finland, who have long been outside NATO, reflected the path and became members of the past two years. Last year, the names of the state at the time announced that NATO was “stronger, greater than ever.”
But since Trump was elected in November, the situation has taken a sharp turn. The Trump administration has resumed criticism of NATO and a gift to Putin, while the United States was placed at the peace talks center aimed at ending the war in Ukraine – negotiations that a lot of fear will collapse or eventually harm Kiev's position.
“When Biden won in 2020, I felt a great sigh in London and through European capitals,” says Michael Cox, a honorary professor of international relations at the London College of Economics. But with Trump's re -election, “Europeans are much more anxious this time than they were previously.”
Here are five developments in the past few weeks that highlight the increasing lack of confidence between the United States and Europe:
Vice President Vice Vice European Union leaders
Trump's return to the position of European leaders left the edge of the future of NATO and the ongoing war of Russia.
The rift was presented in the Atlantic in a speech on February 14 by Vice President Vancer at the Munich Security Conference, where he criticized the cruelty of European leaders, accusing them of trying to strangle the right -wing political opinions.
“For many of us on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, it seems more and more than the old established interests hidden behind words in the ugly Soviet era such as” wrong information “and” getting rid of information “, which does not like the idea that someone with someone with and said Vans: “A alternative view may express a different opinion, or – God forbid – in a different way.
In a very controversial step, Vans also met with Alice Widel, the co -leader of the far -right alternative to Germany (AFD), a notorious party for its Nazi speech and reduce Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust.
Other political parties in Germany refused to work with AFD. But after the elections held on Sunday, AFD is now the second largest party, a major political transformation.
In response to Vans's speech, German Defense Secretary Boris Pistorius has returned.
“This democracy was questioned by the US Vice President earlier, not only in Germany but in Europe as a whole. If it understands it properly, it compares the circumstances in Europe with those who are subject to authoritarian regimes,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
Zelinski calls for the “Armed Forces in Europe”
Ukrainian President Folodimir Zellinski arrives at the Munich Security Conference on February 15 in Munich, Germany. He called for the establishment of armed forces in Europe. Sean Galloub/Getty Pictures hide the illustrative name
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In response to Vans's speech, Ukrainian President Folodimir Zelinski called for the creation of “armed forces in Europe”, saying that without the Ukraine army, the European forces will not be sufficient to confront the Russian aggression.
The urgency of European leaders has grown with the high fears that Trump may exceed Ukraine and Europe to take over a peace agreement with Putin.
A recent report issued by the European tank BRUEGEL says that Europe will need an additional 300,000 soldiers, at a cost of about 262 billion dollars, to replace the entire United States in defense issues. The research tank concluded that “the numbers are small enough for Europe to completely replace the United States.”
The United States holds separate talks with Russia on Ukraine
The senior United States and Russians, including Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, met in Saudi Arabia on February 18.
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Foreign Minister Marco Rubio recently held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia without Ukrainian actors. The discussions appear to have been putting the way for peace negotiations, which raised the warnings in Europe that the United States might pay to obtain a deal on the margin of Ukraine.
A lot of Ukraine's defense against Russia has relied on American support. The United States has allocated just less than $ 175 billion since 2022 in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Trump himself explained his position on Ukraine, saying in a Fox News radio interview that he does not believe that Zelinski was important to the peace process, and the Ukrainian leader refused to carry “no cards”, adding, “I have been tired of it.”
Many European leaders are concerned that Trump's desire to end the war quickly may lead to Ukraine's interim ceasefire, which can allow Russia to rebuild its forces.
In the wake of the European Union's meeting of Foreign Ministers in Paris earlier this month, seven European countries said in a statement that “Ukraine and Europe should be part of any negotiations.”
The German leader asks our commitment to defense in Europe
Friedrich Mirz, who is preparing to be the next German adviser, said Europe needs to be prepared to defend itself. Maja Hitij/Getty Images hide the explanatory name
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Friedrich Mirz, who is preparing to become the new German adviser after the elections on Sunday, expressed serious doubts about the American commitment to NATO. He fears that Trump may give up the mutual defense pledge in NATO, leaving Europe weak.
“We must prepare for the possibility that Donald Trump will not support the mutual defense commitment in NATO unconditionally,” Mirz told a German broadcaster on Friday. “For this reason, in my opinion, it is important for Europeans to make the greatest possible efforts to ensure that we are at least able to defend the European continent alone.”
Since the beginning of NATO in 1949, the United States has been a guarantor of reality for European security against threats from the first Soviet Union and the positions of Warsaw, and now Russia. NATO members pledged to spend 2 % of GDP to defend by the end date of last year. While some have reached or overcome this goal in recent years, others have decreased. The Trump administration has now requested to spend 5 % of GDP. (In 2023, the United States spent the equivalent of 3.4 % of its gross domestic product on the army.)
Cox from London Economy College believes that the US goal that the United States desires is “impossible”, but notes that the Europeans “really feel that they need to do more … not only to clarify Trump, but also to achieve the greatest contribution to their security” . It also admits that Europe will continue to rely on the United States for logistical services, intelligence and subsidies.
At the United Nations, the United States refuses to condemn Russia to invade Ukraine
At the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, the United States voted against the condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Dorothy Xia said that the temporary American charger was that the decision sustained “a war of words rather than ending the war.”
The voting places the United States in the extraordinary company, as it stood with North Korea, Iran and 15 other countries against the Ukrainian -backed Ukrainian decision. China, along with 64 other countries, abstained.
The decision passed, 93-18.
