EU fears Trump will withdraw support for Ukraine over Iran war - Politico
European leaders fear that US President Donald Trump's war in Iran will force him to withdraw support for Ukraine, Politico reports, citing EU sources.
Four EU diplomats told the publication about the governments' concerns that Trump may take retaliatory measures against European allies for rejecting his request for help in the Middle East, primarily by cutting off the remaining US aid to Kyiv. According to them, the leaders hope that the offer of limited support for his actions against Tehran will be enough to convince the US President not to change course in the conflict with russia.
In particular, in recent days Trump has repeatedly criticized allies for not doing more to help him unblock the Strait of Hormuz - a sea route that transports about 20% of the world's oil and which has effectively closed Iran.
In addition, it was previously reported that the aggressor state of russia offered Washington a deal under which the Kremlin would stop sharing intelligence with Iran if Washington stopped providing Ukraine with information about russia. Although the United States rejected the offer, according to two people familiar with the US-russia talks, the very fact that it was put forward suggests a possible compromise between US involvement in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Among other things, four EU diplomats say that governments are concerned that a war in Iran will deplete the stockpiles of missiles and air defenses that Ukraine needs to defend itself against russia.
"When you see what Trump did with Greenland, how he voluntarily stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, there is always a risk [that Trump could withdraw US support for Ukraine]," one of the diplomats said.
"It is clearly a concern that the Middle East is distracting from Ukraine. The Emiratis are firing Patriot missiles like candy, while Ukraine desperately needs them. We cannot allow a situation where we have to choose one thing," added a second diplomat from a medium-sized EU country, implying that the US only has the resources for one conflict and could abandon Ukraine.
The publication noted that European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron of France, Keir Starmer of the UK and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, are stepping up efforts to demonstrate their support for the US President's goal of liberating the Strait of Hormuz.
In particular, Starmer was the main organizer of a statement signed by seven EU countries and their allies (Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan), in which they expressed their "readiness to join appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait."
However, when asked about the purpose of this statement, which does not promise any immediate material assistance, a third diplomat, a Politico source, replied: "This is part of the same effort. We have to show Trump that we are active in the Middle East. It is in our interests, but also in the interests of Ukraine."
But as for Trump, "appearance matters - sometimes more than substance," the same diplomat said.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 22, Donald Trump said that he was giving Iran 48 hours to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, otherwise he would order the destruction of the country's entire energy infrastructure. And on March 23, he announced that he had ordered the postponement of strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for 5 days.
Meanwhile, US President's Special Representative Steve Witkoff reported that during negotiations with Ukraine on March 21 in Florida, they discussed narrowing the range of unresolved issues to reach a peace agreement to resolve the russian-Ukrainian war.