NATO cannot defend Europe from Russia without US, bloc leaders warn

The leaders of three NATO countries that border Russia have warned that the defense bloc simply isn’t ready to fight Vladimir Putin’s forces without the US. The leaders of Latvia, Estonia and Finland have urged the alliance to stop ‘endlessly debating’ how to deal with Russia in the wake of Donald Trump ‘s immediate return to the White House. The three countries are the only NATO members to border Russia. Latvia also borders Belarus, whose leader Aleksandr Lukashenko has long been a Putin ally.

‘We are not ready. That’s absolutely clear. We can’t keep simply hoping for a situation where the US remains much involved in Europe’, Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics told the Independent. ‘We have to ramp up our defense capabilities because of Russia’s threat, and its inability to be a democracy and operate in a rule-based world’, Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal (L) added. Earlier this week, Trump told his European allies that he will demand NATO member states to increase their defense spending to 5% of GD, more than twice the current target of 2%.

Latvia, Finland and Estonia are among the highest spenders of defense in the bloc, relative to their GDP, spending 3.15%, 2.41% and 3.43% of their GDP on fighting capabilities respectively. While the proportion of nations who spend above the target has risen dramatically in the past year, experts have warned that the number of countries that do not pay their fair share is still too low. Russia is set to spend 6.3% of its GDP on defense next year. Alexander Stubb (pictured), Finland’s president, praised the ‘pressure’ Trump was putting on Europe, though he urged the president-elect to focus on ‘more on capabilities rather than expenditure.’

‘Everyone needs to correct their defense deficit’, he added. Despite Trump’s aggressive stance against the defense bloc, Stubb said he did not believe the Republican would leave it. ‘I think it’s in the vested interest of the United States to stay engaged [in Europe]. In any case, I believe that values based alliances last much longer than interest based alliances’, he said. Finland, alongside Sweden, applied to become a NATO member in May 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ending decades of military neutrality.

The country’s army is one of the largest in Europe, boasting ‘280,000 troops that ‘can be mobilized and armed to the teeth in a week’, according to Stubb. Just a few months before it applied to be a part of NATO, Finland spent an estimated £7.5 billion on buying 64 F-35A fighter jets to bolster its airforce. Stubb said of his nation’s recent military purchases, as well of the growth of its army: ‘We don’t have this because we’re worried about Stockholm or London. We have this because we’re worried about Moscow.’

The stark warnings come after Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelensky agreed on ‘the importance of refining’ the UK’s training offer for Ukrainian armed forces to ‘further bolster Ukraine’s ability on the battlefield’, Number 10 has said. The Prime Minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday morning, and also agreed that what happens in the conflict in the coming months ‘matters to Nato’. According to a readout of the call issued by Number 10 on Monday, ‘President Zelensky reflected on the situation on the frontline in Ukraine and the need to ensure Ukraine could degrade Russian forces for the long haul.

‘What happens in Ukraine in the coming weeks and months matters to Europe and Nato, and it was vital President Putin’s ambitions fail in Ukraine, the leaders agreed.’ The readout added: ‘The leaders discussed Operation Interflex, the UK-led training mission for Ukrainian recruits, and agreed on the importance of refining its offer to further bolster Ukraine’s ability on the battlefield.’ It comes amid speculation that the UK could be considering sending troops to Ukraine to help train its armed forces.

Last week, Defense Secretary John Healey said it is a ‘critical period’ for Ukraine and pledged that the UK would be ‘stepping up’ help. Speaking to LBC during a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Mr Healey said: ‘This is undoubtedly a critical period for Ukraine. ‘Russians are putting Ukraine under pressure on the front line but Putin himself is showing signs of weakness, calling in North Korean troops to reinforce his own army, walking out on Assad and failing to defend his own positions in Syria.’

He added: ‘I’m here discussing with Ukrainians and Ukrainian defense minister our joint plan for 2025 and I’m here to say, ‘look, the UK is stepping up further the military help we’ll give, and also stepping up further the UK international leadership to try and co-ordinate allies so that we can stand with Ukraine throughout 2025 and beyond’.’ The call comes after Sir Keir’s trip to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) meeting last week, a military coalition of several European countries, during which he said that ‘Ukraine needs all the capability that it can get’.

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