Europe has the money to save Ukraine. It needs the will
Ukraine’s war effort is fading fast, and Europe will need to pick up the slack. While Sunday’s gathering of European leaders in London included a commitment to keep military aid flowing and to formulate a peace plan, it’s the details that will matter.
So far, the US peace strategy has seemed to rest on appeasing the Kremlin — promising territorial concessions, parroting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talking points and trash-talking the transatlantic alliance. Zelenskiy, on the heels of the leaders of France and Britain, failed to elicit firm security guarantees from the White House last week. The rebuke he received after pressing the matter — “Have you said ‘thank you’ once?” exclaimed Vice President JD Vance — has left relations with the US uncertain.
How exactly the White House intends to stop the fighting remains to be seen. But Europe ought to recognize the leverage it does have to shape the endgame, as well as the urgent need to develop more.
While stockpiles have thinned, European countries still have weapons they can transfer to Ukraine, from artillery rounds to precision strike missiles and air defense systems, as well as funds to ramp up its growing defense-industrial base. As little as $20 billion spread across the European Union could help Kyiv defend against ongoing Russian attacks and hold out for better terms.
Europe (including the UK and Switzerland) also maintains extensive sanctions that could continue to squeeze Russia’s economy even if US restrictions are lifted. It controls some $250