U.S. pushes Europe to lead
U.S. officials told partners that future support for Ukraine "can't rely on American contributions", signalling a shift toward Europe buying and sending weapons itself. (politico.eu) Pentagon officials urged allies to accelerate a move to a so‑called 'NATO 3.0', while Sweden made high‑profile gestures including a visit by King Carl XVI Gustaf and a 12.9bn‑crown military package. ( ) At the same time Moscow accused European states of growing involvement, published a list of 23 sites it could regard as potential targets and claimed Europe’s drone cooperation with Ukraine shows deeper participation. ( )
The United States told allies this week that future military support for Ukraine will have to come mainly from Europe, not from Washington. (politico.eu) At the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Berlin, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby said support for Kyiv could no longer depend on American drawdowns and urged European governments to buy and send more weapons themselves. He also called for a faster shift to “NATO 3.0,” his term for Europe taking primary responsibility for the continent’s conventional defense. (politico.eu, interfax.com.ua) That message followed a steep drop in U.S. military aid last year. The Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker said U.S. military help to Ukraine fell by 99% in 2025, while European military aid rose by 67% and European financial and humanitarian aid rose by 59%. (kielinstitut.de, yahoo.com) Europe has already started shifting from donating stockpiles to funding new production. Politico reported that allies used a NATO-run procurement channel to gather €3.7 billion in 2025 for U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine, including systems such as Patriot air defense and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. (politico.eu, yahoo.com) Sweden has become one of the clearest examples of that European push. On February 19, Stockholm announced its 21st military support package for Ukraine, worth nearly 12.9 billion Swedish kronor, with air defense equipment, long-range weapons systems, ammunition, training and other support. (government.se) The package brought Sweden’s total military support since Russia’s full-scale invasion to about 103 billion kronor, according to the Swedish government. The largest single item was 4.3 billion kronor for newly manufactured short-range air defense equipment. (government.se) Sweden paired that aid with a high-profile visit on April 17. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard traveled to Lviv, met President Volodymyr Zelensky, and laid flowers at the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in the monarch’s first trip to Ukraine during the full-scale war. (kyivindependent.com) Moscow answered by saying Europe was moving closer to direct participation in the war. Reuters reported that Russia’s Defense Ministry published a list of facilities in Britain and across Europe that it alleged were tied to drone production for Ukraine, and Dmitry Medvedev said the list amounted to potential targets for Russian strikes. (usnews.com, independent.co.uk) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not say directly whether Russia would strike those sites, but he said European countries were becoming “increasingly directly involved” in the war. European governments, for their part, have framed their aid as support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion, not as entry into the conflict themselves. (usnews.com, government.se) The immediate question is no longer whether Europe will send more, but how fast it can replace what the United States once provided in larger volumes. Berlin’s message this week was that Washington still wants Ukraine armed, but now expects Europe to do much more of the paying, buying and shipping. (politico.eu, interfax.com.ua)
