The Trump administration announced a significant shift in US foreign policy, stating that America will no longer shoulder the primary responsibility for aiding Ukraine. This move puts pressure on European nations to increase their contributions to Ukraine's defense. Alongside this announcement, Trump revealed he had spoken with Putin about commencing peace negotiations immediately. Hegseth also clarified that the US will not deploy troops to Ukraine to enforce any peace agreement and that a return to pre-war borders is an unrealistic goal.
America will no longer front the lion's share of aid to Ukraine, the Trump administration said today in a devastating blow to Kyiv that will pile pressure on Europe to fill the void.
'We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskiy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now,' Trump said in a post on his social media platform. Washington's allies have been waiting nervously for clarity from Trump's administration after the he demanded that NATO more than double its defence spending target and vowed to end the war in Ukraine.
Russia says it has annexed five regions of Ukraine - Crimea in 2014 and then Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia in 2022 - though it does not have full control over them. Kyiv has expressed in the past that any settlement that does not include hard military commitments - such as NATO membership or the deployment of peacekeeping troops - will just allow the Kremlin time to regroup and rearm for a fresh attack.
'Any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,' he said, adding that 'to be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be US troops deployed to Ukraine.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth meets with British Defence Secretary John Healey, on the eve of a NATO defence ministers' meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
However, a third of members still haven't reached that threshold, and Trump is almost certain to target them again. NATO leaders are expected to agree on new spending targets at their next planned summit, in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 24-26. A British military think-tank warned today that the demands placed on NATO allies by the U.S. were 'unachievable at this time'.
German defense budget is now the largest in Europe, 'surpassing that of the UK, which has been the largest spender in Europe and the second largest in NATO for the last three decades,' the IISS said. Russian servicemen march on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 9, 2024
International Relations UKRAINE RUSSIA NATO US FOREIGN POLICY PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
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