Quotes
The US position on Ukraine as articulated today should surprise no one in Europe: it’s just what European insiders have been saying to me off the record, in back channels, behind the scenes for two years: West Ukraine and East Ukraine, like West Germany and East Germany but in this case – EU Yes, NATO No,
Trump’s agenda isn’t about European security: it’s that he thinks the USA shouldn’t pay for European security,
said Nicholas Dungan, founder and CEO of CogitoPraxis, a strategic consultancy in The Hague The disturbing thing is of course that we have the two big guys, the two big egos … believing that they can maneuver all of the issues on their own,
he told Richard Quest on CNN International When you ask those guys, why can’t you spend more on national security, their argument is because it would require us to make cuts to welfare programs, to unemployment benefits, to being able to retire at 59 and all these other things,
The United States will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency,
said the new Pentagon chief, who was wearing a stars-and-stripes pocket square We have a little thing called an ocean in between.”
Trump is returning to the rationale used by many presidents wary of foreign entanglements from the start of the republic, saying Wednesday It’s an interesting question, ... I said that was not a good war to go into,
Asked by a reporter whether Ukraine would be an equal partner in peace talks, Trump replied ... and appeared to think carefully, before replying If you don’t do it, get your Russian language courses or go to New Zealand,
We need to do a lot more so we have what we need to deter and defend. And so that there is more equitable burden sharing,
Our message is clear, the bloodshed must stop and this war must end,
he told a group of Kyiv's backers that included his Ukrainian counterpart Secretary Hegseth, we hear you,
said Britain's defence minister John Healey in a brief response Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,
Chasing this illusory goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering,
he added, though this could be interpreted as effectively acknowledging the annexation of Crimea, and large parts of the Donbas by Russia The US is prioritising deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognising the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence does not fail. As the United States shifts its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front,
We also face a peer competitor in the Communist Chinese” able to threaten the American mainland and “core national interests in the Indo-Pacific”.
At the same time, he added We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,
Hegseth told the meeting of more than 40 countries allied to Ukraine If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and they should not be covered under Article 5,
he said, referring to the alliance's mutual defense clause The Europeans have to own this conflict going forward,
Trump's national security advisor Mike Waltz told US media The most difficult issue remains defence spending,
said one European diplomat at NATO Arrived at NATO HQ. Our commitment is clear: NATO must be a stronger, more lethal force -- not a diplomatic club, ... Time for allies to meet the moment."
