Winks at emergency Brussels trip to Ukraine after Trump visit

The top U.S. diplomat in outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration “will meet with counterparts in NATO and the European Union on Wednesday to discuss support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Trump’s election on November 5, combined with the political crisis in Germany, has increased fears in Europe about the future of aid to Ukraine, which is fighting Russian invaders.

Trump has in the past expressed his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and mocked the $175 billion in US aid pledged to Ukraine since Moscow’s 2022 invasion.

The 78-year-old businessman boasts that he could end the war in a day, possibly by forcing Ukraine to make concessions, but newly appointed national security adviser Mike Waltz said Trump could also put pressure on Putin.

The Washington Post reported that Trump spoke to Putin by phone after his election and dissuaded Russia from escalating tensions. The Kremlin denied the report.

The US elections come as Ukraine prepares for the impact of thousands of North Korean troops who US intelligence says have been sent to fight on Russia’s behalf, giving Moscow an even greater advantage on the ground.

– ‘The strongest possible position’ –

The Biden administration has made clear that it plans to transfer more than $9 billion in funds appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine in the remaining weeks.

“Our approach remains the same as it has been for the last two and a half years, which is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield and thus ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” Jake Sullivan said. Biden’s national security adviser told CBS News’ “Face The Nation.”

Mark Cancian, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expected the United States to focus specifically on sending vehicles, medical supplies and small arms ammunition that Ukraine needs and that the United States can provide.

“I think between now and the end of the administration they will try to send everything they can,” Cancian said.

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– Europe ‘must speed up’ –

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned on Monday that Putin could use the post-election transition in the United States to his advantage.

“We don’t have time to wait until spring,” he said.

Both Ukraine and Moscow have seen an increase in drone attacks. The New York Times reported that Russia is recruiting 50,000 troops, including North Koreans, in an attempt to drive out Ukrainian forces that seized parts of Russia’s Kursk region a few months ago.

In his first term, Trump aggressively pushed Europe to increase defense spending and questioned the fairness of NATO, the US-backed transatlantic alliance from the Cold War that has been strongly defended by Biden.

“We can safely say that whatever the US leadership’s approach towards Ukraine is, Europe will need to step up and we will need to take the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defense efforts and macro-financial stability,” said Olena Prokopenko of the German Marshall Fund. of the United States of America.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s victory came at arguably the worst possible time for Europe’s political and economic structure and its ability to coordinate quickly,” he said.