Europe is making a last call to the administration of Joe Biden, which is being replaced by the administration of the winner of the presidential election, Donald Trump, to increase American support to Ukraine in order to strengthen Kyiv's position as much as possible before the end of the presidential term in January.
Bloomberg reported this on November 14.
Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, has said he will seek a quick deal between Kyiv and moscow, raising concerns in Europe that such a deal would be disadvantageous for Ukraine and possibly consolidate gains made by russia since its 2022 invasion.
European leaders and officials have asked the U.S. to provide Ukraine with more weapons and artillery, impose additional sanctions on key russian revenue sources and limit moscow's ability to buy banned weapons technologies, the newspaper's sources said. According to them, many European requests were of an unofficial nature.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is said to have made a hastily arranged trip to Brussels on Wednesday to reassure NATO allies and the European Union that the U.S. is stepping up its efforts to provide resources to Ukraine ahead of the inauguration of Trump, who has sharply criticized the scale of U.S. efforts to protect Kyiv.
In particular, the resources he mentioned - money, ammunition, weapons - mainly come from the USD 61 billion package passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this year. He added that “every dollar at our disposal” will be rushed through.
According to the publication's sources, despite the fact that Biden has less and less time left to fulfill the requirements, the United States is already working on adopting new sanctions against the russian oil fleet and North Korea, which has sent troops to help moscow in military operations, by the end of November.
Representatives of the Department of State and the Treasury declined to comment on the issue.
"The next few weeks will be critical to put Ukraine in a strong position,” Mark Leonard, co-founder and director of European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, told Bloomberg. He said a deal negotiated by Trump “may try to freeze the conflict on the lines where Russia now occupies 20% of Ukrainian territory.”
The U.S. has pledged to ensure that all money for Ukraine at its disposal will be used before Trump takes office. However, the delivery of some weapons could take many months and extend beyond Biden's time in office.
Recall that after the U.S. Congress approved additional funding for Ukraine in April, the country delivered 83% of the promised ammunition, 67% of the promised air defense equipment, and 60% of the fire equipment.
Also, some EU leaders insist that the U.S. allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to attack military facilities on the territory of russia. Biden has so far resisted the request, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has openly opposed it. People familiar with the U.S. position said it would have limited impact on the battlefield and was not worth the risk of escalation.
Russian president vladimir putin has warned the U.S. and its NATO allies against allowing Ukraine to strike deep into russia with weapons they have provided. Ukraine also wants to use British Storm Shadow cruise missiles and French SCALP for strikes.
For its part, the EU is preparing for a destructive Trump presidency amid fears that the bloc will have to increase aid to Kyiv due to declining American support. He seeks to speed up negotiations with the UK regarding a new pact on defense and security, the Bloomberg agency previously reported.
Although the EU is Ukraine's largest aid provider, Kyiv relies on the U.S. for critical military assets such as F-16 fighter jets and long-range ATACM missiles.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said that there is a "chance" that Congress could approve additional funding for Ukraine before the transition to the Republican-controlled Congress and the administration of President-elect Trump.
Meanwhile, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden plans to transfer the remaining USD 6 billion in security aid to Ukraine before the inauguration of Donald Trump.
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