Europe asks Biden to increase support for Ukraine before Trump comes – Bloomberg

Europe is making a final appeal to the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden to increase US support for Ukraine in order to strengthen Kyiv’s position as much as possible before the end of the presidential term in January, reports Bloomberg, writes UNN.

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Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, said he would seek a quick agreement between Kyiv and Moscow, raising concerns in Europe that such an agreement would be disadvantageous for Ukraine, the newspaper said.

“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 target Moscow’s ability to purchase banned weapons technologies,” people familiar with the matter said. According to the sources, many of the European requests were informal in nature.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a hastily arranged trip to Brussels on Wednesday to reassure NATO and EU allies that the US is ramping up its efforts to send resources to Ukraine ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

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“Despite the fact that Biden has little time left to fulfill the requests, the US is already working on adopting new sanctions against the Russian oil fleet and North Korea, which has sent troops to help Moscow’s military efforts, by the end of November,” sources familiar with the situation said.

Europe, as the publication notes, has stepped up efforts to protect its interests, especially when it comes to Ukraine’s military efforts, before Trump becomes president.

The US has undertaken to ensure that all money for Ukraine at its disposal will be used before Trump takes office. However, the supply of some types of weapons may take many months and go beyond Biden’s term of office, the publication notes.

“We will do everything we can to support Ukraine before the new team comes to power,” US Army procurement chief Douglas Bush said in an interview. “But at that point it will be their decision.”

Several EU leaders are also reportedly pushing the US to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.

Biden has so far resisted the request, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has openly opposed it. “People familiar with the US position believe that this will have a limited impact on the battlefield and is not worth the risk of escalation,” the newspaper said.

“When we communicate with our American friends and partners, I really hope that we will continue our support to the Ukrainians, including with regard to deep strikes, in the use of legitimate defense, when the targets are used for strikes against the defense and infrastructure of Ukraine,” he said in an interview. Benjamin Haddad, Minister of European Affairs of France.

For its part, as indicated, the EU is preparing for Trump’s presidency amid fears that the bloc will have to increase aid to Ukraine due to a reduction in American support. Bloomberg previously reported that the bloc seeks to speed up negotiations with Great Britain on a new pact on defense and security.

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