Europe plans to convince Trump to sell arms to Ukraine – WP
Photo: Donald Trump, President of the United States (Getty Images)
European officials believe they can convince US President Donald Trump to start selling weapons to Ukraine, The Washington Post reports.
According to the outlet, three unnamed European officials said that European allies believe they can persuade Trump to authorize the sale of US weapons to Ukraine, if they or Kyiv allocate money for this, including through loans.
One of the WP's sources clarified that the green light for such arms sales will also depend on the whims of the American leader. According to the source, Trump's officials are reluctant to take big steps they believe might anger the Kremlin or jeopardize Trump's ambitions for peace talks or rapprochement with Moscow.
Meanwhile, unnamed NATO representatives believe that under the current conditions, Ukraine can hold out against Russia for another year.
"Our judgment is it would not lead to a total collapse in 12 months. You'd still have another year probably, but Ukraine … would be remarkably lean. They would be fighting from a defensive situation almost all the time," a senior NATO official told the outlet.
According to him, Ukrainian troops may lack air defense equipment, tank brigades, and missile stockpiles.
Sale of weapons to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy planned to meet with US President Donald Trump at the G7 summit in Canada to discuss the possibility of selling US weapons to Ukraine. However, the meeting never took place.
At the same time, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, assured that Trump would eventually allow the sale of weapons to Ukraine.
