Soon after Europe’s Ukraine meeting, Trump moves to end security aid aimed to check Russia: Report

While Europe provides security guarantees to Ukraine in its war against Russia, reports are emerging that the US President Donald Trump’s administration intends to halt longtime security assistance programs for the continent. According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration is planning to pause the initiative to fortify the continent’s eastern flank against a potential attack by Russia.

The move is seen as Washington’s attempt to revamp its role within NATO, six people familiar with the matter told the American news outlet. It is pertinent to note that the decision would impact hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military aid relied upon by some of the alliance’s most vulnerable members.

The report has already alarmed US allies struggling to comprehend the administration’s policy toward Europe and its chief adversary in the Kremlin after Trump expressed his eagerness to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Meanwhile, US lawmakers are confused by the whole thing.

“The Russians genuinely only care about American dollars, American troops and the American flag,” said a European official worried about what signal a cut in US aid would send to Russia. Meanwhile, in a statment on the matter, the White House said that its move to slash security assistance was “coordinated” with the Europeans and is consistent both with Trump’s executive order to reevaluate US foreign aid and his “long-standing emphasis on ensuring Europe takes more responsibility for its own defence.” “Europe has been stepping up,” the statement says. “ … We are pleased with European allies taking on more defence initiatives.”

Trump’s dodgy stance towards Europe

The president has vacillated in his approach to Europe amid the long-running Ukraine conflict. What makes matters confusing is the fact that he has exhibited both frustration and warmth toward Putin while endorsing plans to support Kyiv through American weapons sales and security guarantees.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has also sent such mixed signals to the continent. In July this year, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth met with the leaders of the three Baltic nations that border Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, during which he commended their push to raise defence spending.

However, with the closed doors, the Defence Department policy office has been aggressive in its efforts to end certain support programs. The administration’s intention was also reported earlier by the Financial Times.

As per the Washington Post report, David Baker, the Pentagon’s head of Europe and NATO policy, informed a group of European defence officials of the decision late last week, attributing the change to shifting priorities within the administration, people familiar with the matter said.

Is China the reason?

It is pertinent to note that Baker is closely aligned with Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, who has long argued that the United States can’t sustain its current level of support for Europe while doubling down on its efforts to deter China in the Indo-Pacific region.

US officials told the Washington Post that the Trump administration’s increased attention on border security and homeland defence, in addition to China, is a primary reason to end the European security funding.

According to the report, the program that might get suspended by the move is the Baltic Security Initiative, an effort to reinforce those three nations with money for military infrastructure and training. Within NATO, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia spend among the largest portions of their GDP on defence. However, since they are relatively small economies, US funding is highly important to them.

The program in question began in 2018 and has almost doubled in size each year since then, said Lauren Speranza, a former adviser to Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and now a fellow with the Centre for European Policy Analysis. She noted that the money is seen as America’s symbolic show of support to these nations’ defence while also deterring a possible Russian attack.

“It’s to prevent the US from ever going there to fight to fulfil its NATO obligations,” Speranza said. The news of halting aid to Europe came a month after the Senate Appropriations Committee passed $225 million for the Baltics initiative in its defence spending bill, though the legislation has yet to come up for a vote before the full chamber. Hence, America’s aid to the Eastern European nation hangs in a thin thread.