In the wake of a contentious meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky, the United States has decided to pause all military aid to Ukraine. This decision has raised concerns about how Ukraine will continue to defend itself against Russian aggression, as Washington has played a significant role in providing support to Kyiv.
With the U.S. pulling back on its military aid, European NATO members like Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have stepped up to fill the gap. However, Europe lacks the capability to produce air-defense systems and long-range rocket artillery that Ukraine relies on, such as the Patriot and ATACMS.
The Wall Street Journal has delved into whether European NATO countries have the necessary resources to take on this responsibility. The defense budgets of these nations, while substantial, may not be enough to fully support Ukraine in the face of Russian threats.
Additionally, while NATO countries do possess some equipment that Ukraine may need, there are concerns about whether they have the capabilities and personnel to effectively provide the support that Ukraine requires. The question of boots on the ground remains a key factor in determining how NATO will be able to fill the gap left by the U.S.
As tensions in the region continue to escalate, it is crucial for European NATO members to come together and strategize on how they can support Ukraine in the absence of U.S. military aid. The future remains uncertain, but it is imperative for NATO countries to work together to ensure the security and defense of Ukraine in the face of growing threats from Russia.
Watch the video by The Wall Street Journal
Video “U.S. Pauses Military Aid to Ukraine: Can NATO Fill the Gap? | WSJ” was uploaded on 03/10/2025 to Youtube Channel The Wall Street Journal
Americans!!!!!
simple answer from this video "NO"
If the EU and NATO purchase American weapons ASAP, the military gap will be filled in the end. But the problem is American weapon makers' too slow manufacturing speed. European states ought to wait for American weapon transferring over 2 years, at least when they ordered. However, the Polish Army solved the complicated matter by importing diverse Korean weapon systems.
At the NATO summit, the Polish president revealed the Polish Army's heavy-armed moment, with detailed explanations in the face of European leaders. That was a public criticism against the US's shocking announcement that America will leave NATO, and American weapon makers' slow and inefficient manufacturing processes. Still, Germany and France have emphasized deploying European weapons for European states, but the two nations' weapon developers don't have capabilities for fast and reliable weapon supply.
The French leader Macron said that France could share nuclear weapons with other European states to fight against Russia, but the final launch buttons should be controlled by France, in his latest interview. But that can't be a good idea for Europeans' self-defense, practically.
Let them pay for our weapons. Don’t want a single dollar of mine to be used for European arms charity.
краснович
All great nations fall at some point, even the mighty Rome fell eventually. The United States is no different, you bully these countries like Trump is doing and make enemies out of friends before you know it WW3 will be here and unlike Zelensky who actually is on the battlefield fighting for his country. Trump won’t be out on the battlefield, he’ll be eating Big Macs in the Oval Office while you and I are out there dying.
In 1998, there was an initiative by the UK and France to set up a European army. The USA prevented this at the time.
Has Europe failed to arm itself against Russia? Without a doubt, yes! But that doesn't make the USA's betrayal any better.
In the long run, we all lose because the USA is a rotten system of cowardly traitors.
Yes we can.
Freezing intelligence is beyond rhe pale however.
Americans need to reign in there president.
Those 2700 tanks Russia still has are rotting in storage yards and need extensive rebuilding in order to field. And they are mostly from the 60s or even earlier. Several military analysis orgs estimate they will basically run out of armoured vehicled in spring of '26, maybe earlier. This is an essential point.
Save a dollar today just to pay a hundred ten years later
The decline of the US is just commenced.
Europe sends more money in aid then the USA and then the USA goes “Sorry I actually do not care if it’s all for nothing.”
It’s like throwing a full course meal onto the ground because you think it’s all rotten. When you didn’t pay for most of it.
If Europe really was nervous all trade with dictatorist Russia would be banned.
It is shameful what Trump has done, trying to extort a mineral deal for previous help and now stopping all military and intelligence support. Shameful and may history remember him for this.
The USA is turning into a dictatorship
I recommend watching @PerunAU 's videos on how many of these numbers and statistics are sometimes misleading or not using the same methodology. Since the first video on the subject, that he released at the beginning of March 2022, for instance, he has been debunking that Russia's active force should be over 1 mill – as this counts a lot of police, internal security and many other groups which would not be directly trained OR equipped for the kind of conflict described in this video. Also that when counting Russian materiel in storage, it is not taken into acount that they are expending so much in Ukraine, that a lot of it is not near battle ready or that some of it dates back to 60's, 50's and even 40's.
And presenting the European military industry as being basically non-existent before the bigger Russian invasion in 2022, completely ignores the fact that France and Sweden produces their own planes, that Germany is a major producer of main battle tanks, that the Czech Replublic has majorly increased their production of ammunition etc etc. I'm not saying that Europe can just step into the US role or one-to-one replace what they have supplied, or even that we don't need to invest and expand the industry, but many of the wordings in this video are very misleading. No we can't produce Patriot missiles or HIMARS yet, but those are US designed systems, and completely ignoring any substitutes from the European market is also misleading… Maybe Europe isn't as far ahead in the technology race or in mass as the US, but that doesn't mean that we can't satisfy a lot of Ukraine's needs in other ways.
I'll stop my mini rant now, and once again recommend Peruns videos – he has a very well explained method and always points out caveats and the like, which is a good and refreshing research practice, which is often overlooked.
Europe is not a world power and can't even protect itself. All they do is have meetings.
Genuis move.
Now the rest of the member will finally invest. 😊
So sad that a sizable number of people in the comments section have become neocons
I thought we're talking peace, or war still continues?
The reason why because they use the money to get free healthcare that we supply to them and they take their holidays on pay relief. They use us after the Cold War because of the martial law. It was only temporary until you rebuild itself. It’s our fault for Lenny to go this long, but they’re so far behind. They’ll take them about five years just to keep up.
Thanks to Trump, a long sleeping war giant will wake up soon. Let's just hope this time it wound't be ruled by a crazy ex-painter.
No eu can’t. That sure.
The America-sized hole in Ukraine’s war effort: https://on.wsj.com/43yuwIF