Europe Looks to Rearmament as the US Wavers in Support for its Allies
- Annika Lilja
- Apr 6
- 3 min read
Written by Akshar Patel Edited by Eliza Dorton and Annika Lilja
Following a heated confrontation between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy at a press conference in the Oval Office on February 28th, the United States government cut off all military and intelligence aid to Ukraine. With it, faith in America from its allies wavered across the Atlantic. This is because the EU, with Russia in its own territorial backyard, believes Ukraine to be a keystone in stopping the advance of Vladimir Putin’s influence further west into Europe. As its enemy loses their largest backer, Russia may become emboldened and push further, even beyond Ukraine. It also did not help that US leaders such as Elon Musk and Utah Senator Mike Lee have openly stated a desire to leave NATO and the United Nations on X. Trump has not made a public statement on such a measure, but the fact that someone as powerful as Musk is fervently behind it set off alarm bells in Europe.
To give some historical background, ever since the formation of NATO in opposition to the Soviet Union in 1949, the United States has largely served as an umbrella for Western Europe. European nations still kept and maintained their own armies, but with the ever-present support of America and the lack of any perceived threats after the end of the Cold War, Europe has largely downsized its fighting capability in favor of civilian spending. However, with a new administration in place, it is now clear to many leaders of Europe that the Trans-Atlantic relationship is changing drastically.
On March 4, EU leaders met in Brussels with Zelenskyy to draft a plan that would include over $840 billion in defense spending, aptly named “ReArm Europe.” In a speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated the plan was two-pronged: “The first part of this ReArm Europe plan is to unleash the use of public funding in defence at national level… The second proposal will be a new instrument. It will provide EUR 150 billion of loans to Member States for defence investment.” After some negotiation, the plan was finalized 2 days later to just over $680 billion, with 24% of funding coming from loans and loosened debts. According to NPR, the plan focused on “priority areas” such as “air defense, missiles, drone and anti-drone systems, artificial intelligence and more.”
To put into perspective how large of a shift this is, the world of finance can serve as a useful metric. After Zelenskyy and Trump’s argument, share prices for German defense company Rheinmetall jumped from around 160 to 250 dollars. Similar patterns occurred for other defense companies in the region, such as Hensoldt, Renk, and KNDS, as ReArm Europe was put forward.
Zelenskyy himself has been pivoting his focus toward his own continent. When he visited 10 Downing Street (the British equivalent to the White House) on the 1st of March, he was received with a warm welcome by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised “full backing across the United Kingdom” to the Ukrainian leader. Even before meeting with Zelenskyy, Starmer had been working with French President Emmanuel Macron to organize a so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” where nations could pool their resources together to send troops and supplies to Ukraine as part of peacekeeping efforts. So far, over 20 countries (largely from Europe and former British colonies) have shown interest in joining, though only the UK and France want to send troops.
If soldiers are deployed to Ukraine, it would be for the sole purpose of ensuring stability in the region—though Russia does not see it that way. The Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov, stated in an interview that such an action would lead to the “direct, official and unveiled involvement of Nato members in the war against Russia,” as reported by The Independent. It remains to be seen whether Europe is ready to take such a gamble at a time when their backing by the world’s foremost military superpower is under question.
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